You're reading: 22 saved from sinking passenger boat in California

A passenger boat carrying nearly two dozen people started sinking near Alcatraz island in San Francisco Bay, but the U.S. Coast Guard said everyone aboard was safely rescued.

The 40-foot (12-meter)
Neptune hit an unknown object in the bay Friday night, leaving it with a
1-foot (30-centimeter) gash, Petty Officer Pamela Boehland said.

The
boat began taking on water and sinking, she said. But a Coast Guard
boat happened to be nearby, taking on board most of the Neptune’s 22
passengers and crew and summoning another Coast Guard vessel that picked
up the rest.

The boats took the passengers to San Francisco’s Pier 39. There were no reports of injuries.

KGO-TV reported the passengers were celebrating a bachelor party when the accident occurred.

The Neptune’s website, which advertises it as a “floating wine tasting room,” says it holds 42 passengers for wine tasting.