According to The Associated Press, (via the Juneau Empire), on Monday the Alaska Marine Highway ferry Matanuska collided head-on with the Ocean Beauty seafood plant dock in the Southeast fishing town of Petersburg.
The collision heavily damaged the concrete dock facing, snapped pilings, and left a crane dangling above the water, the Petersburg Pilot reported. The ferry even damaged the second floor of the building sitting on the dock, crushing some outer walkways and walls.
There were no immediate reports of injury at the idle plant, and the 408-foot ferry missed the plant's ammonia storage facilities. The only environmental impact appeared to be a leak of hydraulic fluid from the crane.
"It wasn't a glancing blow. It pretty much was a head-on hit," Petersburg Harbormaster Glorianne Wollen told The Pilot.
The Pilot reports the accident happened during a 180-degree turn in a narrow passage as the Matanuska started to dock in Petersburg. An unanticipated 3-4 knot current appears to have been a factor, a spokesman for the Alaska Department of Transportation.
The ferry sustained apparent dents and scrapes, but after inspection, the U.S. Coast Guard cleared it to proceed on its journey toward Wrangell, Ketchikan and its ultimate destination, Prince Rupert, British Columbia.
Mike Forbush, southeast regional manager for Ocean Beauty, said, "We're assessing the damage, and we're contacting contractors right now," he said. "It's not going to hinder us from operating this summer."
Forbush couldn't estimate the damage, but said "it's definitely in the hundreds of thousands of dollars" to fix.
Read more from the AP, here, and see some close-up photos of the damage from the fisheries blog JuneauTek, here.