More than 70 people aboard a sightseeing vessel in Glacier Bay were evacuated Sunday after the ship began to take on water.
The 79-foot Baranof Winds reportedly struck a rock in the popular Southeast Alaska tourist destination, prompting a joint rescue operation involving a National Park Service boat, a U.S. Coast Guard Cutter and helicopter, a nearby cruise ship and other Good Samaritans, according to a prepared statement from Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class David Mosley.
Seventy people aboard the Baranof Winds were transferred to a Holland America cruise ship, the Volendam. Two people were taken aboard the park service boat; four crewmembers of the Baranof Winds stayed with the ship to make sure it stayed afloat, the statement said.
Everyone was safe and accounted for, Mosley reported.
Coast Guard officials were coordinating to have the Baranof Winds towed to Sitka. An investigation has been launched to determine how the ship grounded and whether it resulted in any pollution.