Anchorage Daily News

A tour boat struck an iceberg while on a cruise of Portage Lake on Friday afternoon, injuring about a dozen passengers and sending two of them to Anchorage hospitals for treatment, according to Alaska State Troopers and Holland America.

The 80-foot M/V Ptarmigan collided with the floating chunk of ice just after 4 p.m., shortly after the vessel had diverted from its return voyage to get a better look at a bear on shore that a passenger had spotted, troopers Girdwood post supervisor Sgt. Bryan Barlow said.

"It sounded like he was maneuvering to continue the trip back and that's when the ice was struck," Barlow said. "As a result of the jolt or the impact, people fell down and hit the deck or the railing."

The size of the iceberg was uncertain, but Barlow, who responded to the scene, said he saw a few substantial chunks floating in the area, which was just about five minutes out from the dock near Begich, Boggs Visitor Center.

There were 186 passengers aboard the vessel at the time of the collision, according to Holland America, which owns Gray Line of Alaska and Portage Glacier Cruises. About a dozen people suffered bumps and bruises and were evaluated at the scene, then released, said Rose Abello, spokeswoman for Holland America.

The two passengers injured and sent to Anchorage hospitals were both elderly women -- one reported hip pain and the other pain in her right arm, Barlow said.

The Ptarmigan did not appear to have been damaged, he said. It makes five hourlong trips to Portage Glacier each day during the summer, but the schedule will likely be interrupted while the U.S. Coast Guard conducts an investigation into the cause of the collision.

"They would want to know if there is some serious safety concern before they resume operations," Barlow said.

By Friday night, it was unclear if the vessel would be cleared in time for today's tours, Abello said.

CAPTAIN NOT NAMED

She wouldn't name the captain but said he has worked for the company for more than 10 years and was a "veteran master." Abello didn't know if he would continue captaining the vessel while the investigation was under way.

There was no talk of offering passengers involved in the accident compensation, though it was too early to say whether any possible medical costs would be covered, Abello said.

"Most of the guests that were on board are continuing their tours" to other parts of Southcentral Alaska, she said. "At this point, most folks are at their next point."

Find James Halpin online at adn.com/contact/jhalpin or call him at 257-4589.

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