LONGBOAT PASS – What began as a leisurely sunset boat ride turned into a frightening experience for a family of tourists on June 9.
In a lengthy Facebook post, Georgia resident Stephanie Bridges wrote that she and her family went on a sunset dolphin cruise from Bradenton Beach Marina that evening on the Anna Maria Explorer and that the boat hit the Longboat Pass Bridge several times.
“We were nearly at the end of our tour when the captain pointed our boat toward the Longboat Pass Bridge,” Bridges wrote. “One of my family members noted that we were traveling a bit too fast through the pillars when all of a sudden we crashed into the concrete bridge pylon – the one that supports the bridge. The captain began to try to get out of the pass, putting the boat into reverse and proceeded to crash into one of the pylons again.”
Bridges wrote that everyone on board put on lifejackets.
“We received zero instruction as to what was happening or how to put the life vests on. The captain and his first mate were silent,” she wrote. “The boat hit the concrete pylon again. Finally, the captain gets us out of the pass and away from the Gulf and back into the bay. He then asks if we want to continue to watch the sunset!! At this point, everyone on board was completely traumatized.”
“My brother went to the captain worried and asking him what was happening. He told my brother that ‘We have some steering on one motor and none on the other,’” she wrote, adding that there were babies and elderly family members on board. “The captain made no effort to call anyone to help us. No call to 911, no call to the Coast Guard, no help. It was a tense 45-minute struggle back to the marina with limited steering. There were some injuries. The captain told us when we got back that he was sorry and that he would give us a refund.”
Bridges said she reported the incident to the U.S. Coast Guard.
“I felt that the incident had to be reported. Upon speaking with the Coast Guard, I was told there had not been any reports made by the company. I was told that there had been dealings with this captain before,” she wrote.
The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed they are investigating the incident.
“We can confirm that there was an allision (a moving vessel hitting a stationary object) between an inspected passenger vessel and the Longboat Pass Bridge on Sunday, June 9. This allision was considered a marine casualty and is currently being investigated by the Coast Guard,” Coast Guard Public Affairs Officer Santiago Gomez wrote in a June 14 email to The Sun. “Coast Guard regulations currently require marine employers to take all practical steps after a Serious Marine Incident to have each individual engaged or employed on board a vessel in commercial service, who is directly involved in the incident, chemically tested for evidence of drug and alcohol use.”
“My family went back to the marina the next day to get our refund. No one had reached out to us, so we went to speak with them in person,” Bridges wrote. “The owner of the company, Shawn Kaleta, spoke with us. He seemed like he didn’t know much about what had happened. We questioned him on protocol, but he didn’t know what the protocol was. He did state that the captain had been fired. He basically finished the conversation saying they gave us the refund and there wasn’t much else he could do.”
The Sun contacted the Bradenton Beach Marina on June 14 for comment. No response was received by press time.
