Faulty power cord leads to tense moments for harbormaster

Aug 21, 2023

Harbormaster Paul Hogg, third from right, gets the latest information from Newburyport firefighters on Thursday morning.

NEWBURYPORT — Local firefighters on Thursday responded to the city’s waterfront after receiving word of smoke coming from the Harbormaster Department’s new quarter-million-dollar rescue boat moored just yards from Harbormaster Paul Hogg’s office.

What could have been a potentially catastrophic incident turned out to be nothing more than a burnt power cord. About 30 minutes after firefighters arrived on scene around 9 a.m., Hogg carried the partially burnt yellow cord off the boat and showed it to a Daily News reporter.

Hogg said the boat did not sustain any damage and that he would take it out for a run to make 100 percent sure.

The new, $270,000 Safe Boats International rescue boat, was never in danger, a fire official said around noon the same day.

The boat was launched in late May weeks after it arrived. It was paid for with a $190,000 grant from the Department of Homeland Security. The remaining $80,000 for the 25-foot boat’s purchase came from the harbormaster enterprise fund.

The rescue boat, built in Seattle, is equipped with a defibrillator and radiation detector. The boat has a 10½-foot beam and includes FLIR thermal imaging for night vision, as well as side-scan sonar and a pair of 250 Yamaha outboard motors in the back.

With a top speed of 60 mph, the rescue boat will be used for day-to-day operations, search and rescue, or any other emergency calls in which the harbormaster would be involved.

Daily News reporter Jim Sullivan contributed to this report.

Dave Rogers is the editor of the Daily News of Newburyport. Email him at: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @drogers41008.

Dave Rogers is the editor of the Daily News of Newburyport. Email him at: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @drogers41008.

Home delivery and Digital Access customers of The Daily News get deals for restaurants, hotels, attractions and other businesses, locally and across the country.

Listen to Local Pulse live at 9 a.m. on Saturdays or go back and listen to previous shows.

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.