Shrimp boat smashes into pier in Intracoastal Waterway

A 66-foot shrimp trawler crashed into a pier Thursday afternoon on the Intracoastal Waterway, damaging a boat, boat lifts and the floating dock, officials said.

The wreck occurred about 3:15 p.m. when the boat was headed south near marker 121, which is near Mason Inlet, according to Petty Officer Liam Walmsley of the U.S. Coast Guard's Station at Wrightsville Beach.

"He had it on autopilot and he had turned around to get a drink of soda," Walmsley said, citing the pilot's explanation for the wreck. "When he turned back around he was crashing into the pier."

The man told authorities he did stop briefly, but with nowhere to tie up his boat, he left the scene, Walmsley said. The Coast Guard stopped the boat about three and a half miles down the Intracoastal Waterway. The Coast Guard's Marine Safety Unit in Wilmington is investigating the wreck, Walmsley said. He said he was not yet authorized to release the driver's name.

Tom Cleary, said the wreck occurred at a community pier shared by residents of Mason's Bluff. The wreck damaged his 18-foot Boston Whaler and one other boat, he said. Five of the pier's 10 boat lifts were seriously damaged, he said, estimating that could be about $50,000. Only a few boats were docked when the wreck occurred. Additional damage was done to the floating dock, Cleary said.

- David Reynolds