The US Coast Guard announced that it is investigating the cause of a tug collision that happened about three miles south of Kennebunk, Maine, last week, and monitors the site where one of the stricken vessels sank.
One of the two crewmen onboard the 40-foot tugboat Helen Louise alerted the USCG watchstanders that their vessel collided with the 80-foot tugboat Capt Mackintire while they had it in tow. The Capt Mackintire had no crew aboard.
The USCG sent a response boat crew from Coast Guard Station Portsmouth Harbor, in New Hampshire, which along with a 87-foot Coast Guard Cutter Reef Shark, homeported in Boston, deployed to assist.
When it arrived on the scene, the Station Portsmouth Harbor boat crew confirmed there were no injuries to the two-man tug crew. The tug Helen Louise was then escorted with the two people onboard, into Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where it safely moored.
The USCG Cutter Reef Shark established a tow with the tugboat Capt Mackintire, in order to bring the boat into Portland, Maine.
While sailing in Portland, the Capt Mackintire began taking on water. As a result the crew cut the towline where it sunk in about 158 feet of water.
The investigation about the accident is ongoing.
