BOSTON — Coast Guard law enforcement crews stopped an impaired boat operator and issued him violations, Wednesday, in Portland Harbor, Maine.
While on patrol, a Coast Guard Station South Portland crew observed a 21-foot recreational boat operating at excessive speed without proper navigational lights. The crew intercepted the vessel, boarded it, and detected a strong odor of alcohol.
The boarding team escorted the vessel to the pier at Portland Yacht Services and issued violations for not displaying proper navigation lights and for having no vessel registration on board. Portland Police Department conducted field sobriety tests, determined the operator was impaired, and arrested him for operating under the influence. They determined the other individual aboard was sober, and he made plans to pilot the vessel to the original intended destination of Long Island, New York.
“Operating under the influence is illegal and extremely dangerous,” said Kenneth Stuart, the command duty officer at Coast Guard Sector Northern New England. “Combine that with excessive speed and no lights, and your chances of disaster increase tenfold.”
