After the captain of a 62-foot Marine Discovery Tours vessel on a whale watching tour sent out a ‘mayday’ call to the Coast Guard when the vessel lost propulsion just off the coast of Newport Oregon, at approximately 12:45pm Wednesday afternoon, two 47-foot Motor Life Boat crews were immediately dispatched by the U.S. Coast Guard from Station Yaquina Bay.
The 62-foot Discovery, operated by Marine Discovery Tours out of Newport Oregon, began producing excessive smoke and lost propulsion while in the coastal bar, in between the Yaquina Bay jetties with 49 passengers aboard.
Within 8 minutes of the initial distress call, the two Motor Life Boat crews arrived on scene, finding the Discovery and placing the Discovery into a side tow, transiting to the pier where they were met by the Newport Fire Department and Pacific West Ambulance.
The vessel was moored at 1:30pm, and all passengers and crew disembarked to allow fire fighters to assess the vessel. There were no medical concerns and there was no fire aboard the vessel.
