BAR HARBOR, Maine — Two passengers on a boat owned and operated by College of the Atlantic suffered minor injuries when the vessel struck a submerged rock Sunday morning.
Twenty-eight people were aboard the Osprey during a pleasure cruise on Frenchman Bay when the accident happened, COA officials indicated in a prepared statement. The cruise was part of the college’s Family and Alumni Weekend.
Passengers lost their balance and fell to the deck of the boat when its keel struck the rock around 10:30 a.m., according to the statement. The boat returned to the COA pier under its own power following the collision.
A student crew member and a woman who is the parent of another COA student, were treated and then each released from Mount Desert Island Hospital in Bar Harbor after the boat returned to shore. Others on the vessel suffered superficial injuries but “none serious enough to require medical attention,” the statement indicated.
Damage to the boat appears to be “minimal,” college officials said, but the boat will be examined more thoroughly. Local experienced boat captain Jerry Blanford, who has operated Osprey “numerous” times, was at the helm when the boat struck the rock, they added.
COA reported the incident to the Coast Guard, which is looking into the cause, according to college officials.
In 2009, a town-owned boat operated by the local police department was damaged when it struck an underwater rock in the bay, but it was unclear Monday whether the two incidents happened at the same location.
