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Coast Guard, local police halt, arrest drunk boaters in Boston Harbor

September 11, 2015

BOSTON — The Coast Guard and the Massachusetts Environmental Police responded Wednesday to three men drunk aboard a boat in Boston Harbor.

A 29-foot response boat crew from Coast Guard Station Boston was underway near Long Warf, in Boston Harbor, when the crew observed a nearby 25-foot boat, with three men aboard, driving in circles.

“The boat was not going anywhere and moving irregularly, when we got closer to the boat the three people aboard appeared to be intoxicated,” said Chief Petty Officer Amy Petersen, who was aboard the response boat, and is Coast Guard Station Boston’s officer-in-charge. “There was a man on the bow, and one of the men was standing on the cabin pretending he was surfing, none of them were wearing a lifejacket.”

The Coast Guard crew contacted MEP and called a Coast Guard boarding team aboard a 45-foot response boat crew from the station to assist.

“It was a very busy night for boating,” said Petersen. “There were a lot of people on the water taking advantage of what is left of the warm weather, so the condition of these men was posing a huge risk to themselves and everyone else on the water.”

Once on scene, the 45-foot response boat crew towed the personal craft to shore.  The boat’s owner/operator was taken to shore aboard the MEP boat, where he failed a Field Sobriety Test and a Breathalyzer. The drunken operator was arrested and taken into custody.

This is the fourth time this summer the crew at Coast Guard Station Boston responded to people drinking and boating in Boston Harbor.

Drinking alcohol is the number one contributor to fatal boating accidents. If you are on the water and need to call the Coast Guard, the Coast Guard’s Boating Safety Mobile app is a great tool. The app features an Emergency Assistance button which, with locations services enabled, will call the closest Coast Guard command center.

Read the recently released feature story, "A Sobering Truth; Drunken Boating Kills", to learn more about the dangers of drinking and boating, and the Coast Guard's BUI enforcement.

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