MBTA Ferry Runs Aground In Boston Harbor; 4 Injured

BOSTON — An MBTA ferry with 84 commuters aboard ran aground when the captain reportedly tried to dodge a fisherman who cut it off the vessel Friday morning. Four people suffered minor injuries when the ferry Lightning crashed into Long Island.

All those aboard were transferred to other ferries, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. The Lightning, which was reported to have a breach in the hull, is being brought back to Black Falcon Pier.

"The ferry Lightning, inbound towards Boston, was 'cut off' by a sport fishing boat, requiring the Lightning’s Captain to take action to avoid a collision," MBTA spokesperson Joe Pesaturo said in an email.

Officials said the ferry did not take on water.

Visibility in the area was low Friday morning due to fog.

The Lightning departed Hull at 7:30 a.m. and was destined for Boston.

The governmental Transit Safety Data does not include ferry crashes in their annual reports, and note they don't happen often. Pesaturo did not say when the last time a crash happened with the MBTA ferries, but noted it's not a common site, here. By comparison, in 2017, the most recent data available, there were 66 reported recreational boat crashes, 10 of them involving fatalities, according to U.S. Coast Guard data.

Patch will update this story