Oil leaking from sailboat after crash with bridge

A diesel spill from a sailboat that crashed into the Bridge of Lions today has St Augustine Vice-Mayor Nancy Sikes-Kline calling for the city to find a way to stop these accidents from being allowed to happen, according to televised reports followed by Historic City News.

The St Augustine Fire Department cast a boom around the boat in an effort to contain the fuel from being further disbursed by the strong current and wind bursts that cut through the inlet today.

According to the city’s harbormaster, Sam Adukiewicz, three boats got loose from the grips of their anchors. “All three of these boats are typically left unattended by their owners, and those are the consequences that we have,” Adukiewicz told reporters.

The owner of another of the vessels, a houseboat tied up in the city owned and operated mooring field, said the roof of his pilot house was ripped off when it went under the bridge. In an interview with FOX News in Jacksonville, he said that he also lost a solar panel, and a window, and the boat will need quite a few repairs. He was not living on the houseboat at the time of the collision.

The reconstructed bridge is still operational; only suffering minor damage during the incident.

“The sailboat is partially submerged and stabilized, and once the weather calms down, we’ll take care of it,” Adukiewicz said. SeaTow will remove the vessel tomorrow; the US Coast Guard is monitoring the spill.