Oil Tanker Hits Three Sailboats Leaving US Northeast

Updated: July 1, 2016 (Originally published June 29, 2016)

A 477-foot oil tanker collided with three moored sailboats Wednesday at the mouth of the Piscataqua River near Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Kittery, Maine, the U.S. Coast Guard reported.

The sailboats were unmanned at the time and no injuries or pollution have been reported.

Check out a video of the incident

The Coast Guard says it was notified at approximately 4 p.m. of the collision involving the tanker Chem Venus and the sailboats.

All three sailboats, which were unoccupied at anchorage, were damaged but remained afloat, the Coast Guard said.

AIS data showed the Chem Venus at anchor just off at the Maine, New Hampshire border as of Wednesday evening.

The same data showed the tanker had just departed from Portsmouth, NH and was sailing to Teesport, England when the incident likely occurred. 

The cause of the collision is under investigation.

The Coast Guard said initially it was trying to determine if there is any damage to the Chem Venus and working to contact the owners of the sailboats. A later update said that the oil tanker’s bow was damaged, causing some water ingress but no pollution has been observed. 

The 19,887 DWT Chem Venus is flagged in Panama and was built in 2004.

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