(PORTLAND, Maine) — The fireboat City of Portland IV was sailing at 14 knots when it struck an underwater object in a shallow area with known obstructions, the Portland Press Herald newspaper reported. The 2011 accident caused $50,000 in damage to the city's fireboat. In response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the newspaper received the city's report to the Coast Guard that said the vessel was going as fast as 16 knots during what the fire department described as a training voyage, although several family members were aboard. Local mariner said that's too fast for the area, and an arbitrator found that the crew should have been more aware of their surroundings.
Click here to view the newspaper's story plus a photo and a chart that maps the vessel's route that day.
