Published July 3, 2010

A boat with 174 people on board ran aground in Boston Harbor, off Deer Island, and began rapidly taking on water. The Coast Guard said all of the passengers were safely removed from the vessel. Two minor injuries were reported.

At first I heard reports it was the schooner Spirit of Massachusetts, one of Boston’s famed tall ships. In fact, it was the Massachusetts, a tour boat.

Web producer Jess Bidgood and I updated this post with details as they became available throughout the day. I boarded a police patrol boat and was one of three journalists who got up close to the sinking vessel.

8:01: Boston Harbor at 38 knots. (Warning: Take Dramamine before watching.) These cops were great — Lt. Gary Duncan and Officer David Marrocco of the Massachusetts Environmental Police.

[youtube url=”fhq9CCkJp8M”]

5:47: Exclusive photos from the scene of the Massachusetts’ accident:

http://cdn.wbur.org/media/soundslides/2010/wbur_0703_ship-sinking

And — WBZ-TV is airing the video we posted earlier.

4:16: Phelps is back with exclusive photos and videos — he was one of just three journalists on a police boat that got within about 100 feet of the sinking Massachusetts.

First, the MV Massachusetts after being stabilized. At one point, the water was up to the windows.

[youtube url=”oKSn9LqH-Cc”]

3:07: Bruce Rohr, the father of WBUR’s Rachel Rohr, was out on the Harbor when the Massachusetts ran aground. His account:

The bow was definitely tipped into the water. If you could imagine, sinking towards the bow. When this happens, the back of the boat — the stern — rises. As the front is diving into the water, the back raises out…it was completely out of the water.

3:05: Phelps is heading back to the station with photos of what appears to be a very-much-sinking MV Massachusetts. In the meantime, check out a few minutes of his trip on that police boat:

[youtube url=”YiCMPfDI__A”]

2:40: Now that evacuation is complete, the Coast Guard is in charge of getting to the bottom of what happened. Coast Guard Petty Officer Connie Terrell:

The coast guard is doing drug and alcohol testing on the crew of the Massachusetts. We are investigating into the incident, we’re interviewing the crew as well as the passengers that were on board to try to see if we can’t determine what happened.

2:35: Phelps tweets: “This thing is definitely going down. Gushing water on all sides.”

2:22: Phelps is headed back to shore after swinging by the Freedom — the boat that carried the evacuated passengers from Hull back to the Harbor — and the Massachusetts itself. Word from police and Coast Guard officials is that the boat probably can’t be salvaged.

2:00: The Massachusetts remains in the harbor and continues to take on water, though it has been moved from the main channel where it first ran into trouble. The passengers themselves are safely in Hull, where they’re being interviewed by Coast Guard officials. Two of those passengers reported minor injuries.

The Coast Guard released the following photos of the evacuation:

Did you see the boat run aground, or witness the evacuation? Leave a comment, or call me in the newsroom — (617) 353-0770.

1:29: Jess Bidgood here. I’m a producer for wbur.org, and I’ll be taking the helm at Hubbub while Andrew Phelps heads out to sea to for a first-hand look at the M.V. Massachusetts. By the way, there has been some confusion in the media on the name of the ship — it’s not the Spirit of Massachusetts, as has been reported.

11:51: The Globe is reporting.

11:47: WBUR is updating the story here.

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