ASTORIA, Ore. — A historic ferry, called Tourist No. 2, capsized at a dock in Astoria on Thursday. No one was on board, the United States Coast Guard reported.
The Astoria Police and fire department responded to a report of a sunken ferry and notified the U.S. Coast Guard.
"What we know is that [the ship] sank sometime yesterday early evening," said Alex Hendricks, a marine science technician with the U.S. Coast Guard. "We know that approximately a couple weeks ago, the vessel took on 500 gallons, but we don't know exactly how much the vessel was capable of holding or what the potential discharge could be."
A containment boom was deployed to contain an oil spill and minimize any potential impacts to the environment, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. An Oil Spill Response Organization was scheduled to begin cleanup operations on Friday.
The Tourist No. 2, a former Columbia River Ferry, was built back in the 1920s. It once carried people and cars across the river. It was decommissioned when the Astoria Bridge was built in 1966. The ferry was bought by a local man in 2016 and returned to Astoria with the intention to restore the vessel.
A group of residents tried to turn the ferry into a floating museum and event space, according to an article published by The Daily Astorian. The group wasn't successful in raising money for the project and listed the vessel for sale in 2021.
