Two Sailboats vs One Container Ship and Two Tugs

We’ve shared many reports about illegal anchor-outs, abandoned vessels, and sunken or grounded vessels, many of which pose a hazard to sailboats and other marine traffic. This week we received a video that shows another very real peril on the Bay when two sailboats were on a collision course with a container ship. The tussle was caught on video by Jessica McNally from aboard the Oakland/Alameda-S.F. ferry as it headed to the city around 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, December 4.

It’s not clear if both boats had someone aboard. We can’t see anyone aboard the smaller boat, though they may be there. Perhaps the larger boat was trying to push the other out of the way of the container ship? We’ve seen photos and reports of rafted anchor-outs in Oakland (we’ll share those in another story); perhaps these two boats were rafted together, making someone’s home?

Jessica wrote to add a little more about what she’d witnessed.

“The container ship was preparing to turn in the basin. I looked away for a few minutes and when I turned back to see the progress of the container ship, that’s when I saw that two boats had moved in front of the ship. Initially, I thought the larger sailboat had come over to try and help move the smaller boat out of the way. But after reviewing the video, I, too, didn’t see anyone on the smaller sailboat.”

Jessica says that once the sailboats were out from in front of the container ship, they “continued to slowly drift around, seemingly tied together.”

“I had taken a still shot of the container ship earlier and it looked like the two boats were closer to the Alameda side. I have no idea how they ended up in front of the ship, though. If you zoom in on the attached photo you can see them on the far left. Wish I could provide more info. But boy, was that a startling thing to see!”

Thanks, Jessica! We appreciate the video and the follow-up. Did anyone else witness this, or some other crazy near-miss on the Bay recently?