Eleven people suffered varying degrees of injury after an amphibious sightseeing boat suddenly overturned on a ramp near the Charles River in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Saturday, June 27.
The incident occurred shortly after 15:00 local time as Molly Molasses, an amphibious vehicle known as a "duck boat," was being towed onto a ramp with 31 people on board.
Boston Duck Tours, the vessel's operator, said the tow rope suddenly broke, causing the vessel to roll onto its side.
Tom Vigna, Boston Duck Tours Director of Marketing and Sales, said that the company suspended its operations for the remainder of Saturday and that it is working with the US Coast Guard and the Massachusetts State Police (MSP) to review the incident.
The MSP has assured that all of the duck boat's occupants are accounted for and that none of them ended up in the water when the vessel overturned.
Several passengers suffered injuries from the mishap. One eyewitness told local outlet NewsCenter 5 that a number of people who were on the boat appeared to be bleeding.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), duck boats are unique vessels with special challenges that must be addressed to ensure passenger safety. These require greater stability and reserve buoyancy, canopy and seatbelt removal before waterborne operations and training for crews.
The vessels were designed and built in the 1940s for military use during World War II. Some were later converted for commercial service.
The NTSB first identified these safety issues in 1999 with the sinking of the duck boat Miss Majestic in Hot Springs, Arkansas, in an incident that claimed 21 lives. Corrective actions were subsequently recommended by the board.
The NTSB said the recommended actions following the Miss Majestic incident were not acted on. The recommendations were again made following the July 17, 2018 sinking of Stretch Duck 7 in Branson, Missouri, after another 17 lives were lost.
In 2022, the US House of Representatives passed a US Coast Guard reauthorisation bill that included policies to improve the safety of duck boats and hold the coast guard accountable to the NTSB's recommendations.