On august 22, 2023, around 9:40 am, officer any myself received a call about a boat incident at morningstar mariana.  We arrived on scene at 10:00 am and walked down to the boat house and met with the general manger.  Then we met with the operator of vessel one.  

At this time sfst were completed on the operator due to the operator having a hard time stepping off vessel one.  During the field sobriety test, the operator seemed to not take the test seriously.  Impairment was not detected.  During our investigation the operator stated that as he was leaving the marina, the deck hands threw a stern line that caught and seized one of his motors and propeller.  

Vessel one stated the line in his prop caused him to lose power and steering causing the collision with vessel two and vessel three.  Vessel one stated he knew he hit the other two vessels but could not do anything about it because he did not have any power in his motor.  At this time recorded video camera footage was viewed for our investigation.  It was seen that vessel one accelerated in a negligent manner.  In the recorded footage prop wash is seen coming from the stern of vessel one as it quickly accelerates towards vessel two.  It was also noted that when contact between vessel one and two, vessel two was moved due to impact. 

In my opinion the incident was caused by operator error due to excessive acceleration. The security footage showed the operator having control of vessel one when he struck vessels two and three.  At the end of the security footage, vessel one is seen operating the vessel out of the marina and into the icw without any further problems.  I believe the incident was caused by operator error.  There were no drugs or alcohol involved in this incident.  Vessel one was also equipped with the proper life saving devices.  Vessel one was charged with careless and negligent operation of a motor vessel.


******nothing further, end of report******

ICW
SOUTHPORT                     