Video in Fort Lauderdale captured the moment when a massive yacht crashed into a dock.
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The incident happened Monday morning when the boat struck the city’s dock at the stormwater pump station located at 100 N. New River Drive, causing significant damage to the dock and its support pilings, city officials said.
The impact also caused damage to the roof of the stormwater pump station.
It’s unusual for a big yacht to crash into a dock because tow boats are there to prevent that from happening.
But for Yacht Sales International owner Udo Willersinn, he could not believe what he was seeing while he was on his walk along the river.
“I recognized the tow boat captains were on the radio; you can hear that they are trying to slow the boat down and weren’t capable of it,” Willersinn said.
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Willersinn said an incident like this is not common.
“No, dozens of yachts come through by tow, and these tow boat captains are very professional, and that’s the first time in over 10 years, we live by the river, seen something like this, so something must’ve gone really wrong,” he said.
City officials said additional assessments were underway, including an evaluation by a structural engineer, to determine whether the impact caused any structural damage to the stormwater pump station or the seawall below the waterline.
No injuries were reported.
“Very lucky, two people on the yacht, and each tow boat captain got out of the way before anybody got hurt,” Willersinn said.
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