The 77 foot commercial fishing vessel Lady Lillian sank while docked in Westport . The cause of the sinking is unknown and it is not known if any crewmen were aboard the vessel at the time of the sinking. The Coast Guard is working together with the Washington State Department of ecology to minimize the environmental damage caused by the vessel sinking. Oil spill containment booms have been placed around the sunken vessel and Global Diving and Salvage has been contacted to empty the vessel’s fuel and oil tanks . The vessel was reported to have approximately a 1,000 gallons of fuel on board. The Lady Lillian was discovered submerged at its berth early Monday morning.
Search of the Coast Guard Vessel Documentation Center records discloses that a 77 foot fishing named Lady Lillian, number 574820, was built in 1976 and is registered as being owned by Nhan Thanh Nguyen of Salem, Oregon. The steel hulled vessel was built in 1976 with a listed hailing port of Portland, Oregon.
A vessel which sinks while moored to the dock certainly raises questions about the general maintenance and repair of the vessel and its overall seaworthiness. We can be thankful that this vessel did not sink while working fishing at sea putting the captain and crew of risk of injury or death.