NTSB: Ferry propeller 'fouled with debris'

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NEW YORK, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- Investigators said Friday a propeller on the ferry that crashed Jan. 9 in New York was "fouled with debris."

In a preliminary report on the crash of the Seastreak Wall Street, in which 83 passengers and one crewmember were injured, the National Transportation Safety Board offered little new information about the ferry's collision with a slip at Pier 11 in Manhattan, reiterating much of what the pilot and crew told investigators immediately after the incident.

Investigators initially said the captain of the ferry reported the vessel's thrust controls didn't respond "as anticipated."

The preliminary report issued Friday said the vessel's master "reduced the speed from 30 knots to 12 knots and prepared for docking the vessel starboard side to," and then moved to the starboard side to get a better look at the dock and his crew's operation.

"He told investigators that he then walked over to the starboard console and attempted to take control there but that the thrust controls did not respond," the NTSB said. "He returned to the center console with the belief that the transfer had been unsuccessful but at that point the center console thrust controls did not respond either."

Further attempts to gain control failed and the "vessel's starboard-side hull struck the dock."

"One interior window at the bottom of a staircase was broken and so were two windows on doors leading from the upper passenger accommodation area to the aft deck," the NTSB said. "In addition, the vessel's portside propeller was fouled with debris. Damage assessments are pending."