Roaming boat gets secure home

The fiberglass catamaran that had been floating around Berwick Bay in the Atchafalaya River appears to have found a secure resting place.
The boat is now in “safe harbor” at Swiftships in Morgan City, said Duval Arthur, director of the St. Mary Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. Smith Maritime General Manager Donnie Matusiak said Smith Maritime used two speed boats to pull the catamaran to Swiftships in Morgan City at about 1 p.m. Wednesday.
The catamaran is now tied up at Swiftships, Matusiak said.
“It’s never going to move again. It’s on a sandbar. We pushed it on a sandbar and tied it up,” Matusiak said.
The Daily Review called Swiftships this morning for comment, but had not received a call back as of this morning.
“Once it’s out of harm’s way, that’s my only concern,” Arthur said.
“I don’t want somebody to run up underneath that thing and get killed. I’d feel bad about that. I couldn’t sleep at night with that on my conscience.”
Arthur said Wednesday that the boat did not have any lights and was a hazard.
Coast Guard Capt. David McClellan, commanding officer for the Morgan City Marine Safety Unit, said, “I’m glad that it’s out of the river.”
Now, the boat “doesn’t present itself to be an immediate threat being a hazard to navigation,” he said.
“My concern level has dropped quite a bit.”
On Feb. 16, the boat broke free from where it was tied in Berwick Bay along Front Street in Morgan City.
On Friday, the boat moved from Berwick to Conrad Industries in Morgan City, McClellan said.
On Saturday, the vessel drifted down the river to the railroad bridge, McClellan said.
Initially, a davit on the boat was hanging across the railroad track impeding railroad traffic, but then the bridge tender secured the davit arm, McClellan said.
At that point, railroad traffic was able to pass, he said.
The vessel stayed up against the railroad bridge until being moved Wednesday.

This story is by Zach Fitzgerald of the Daily Review staff. Reach him at zfitzgerald@daily-review.com