Balboa Pier Reopens After Yacht Collision

NEWPORT BEACH (CBSLA.com) — Officials reopened Balboa Pier in Newport Beach Monday after a 55-foot yacht collided with it.

The accident happened just before 8 p.m. Sunday in the Balboa peninsula off West Balboa Boulevard.

The owner of the boat, called Lucky 7, said he and his 12 passengers were headed back to his home in Huntington Beach around 7 p.m. when they lost visibility from thick fog. The boat then lost power and rammed into the pier.

"It was scary when we hit the pier, it was very scary because you hear the noises," Lucky 7 owner Nick Radio said. "Everybody was trying to keep the boat away from the pier, but we had a few waves push us hard so we have a few damages to the boat."

Several dozen people on the pier were evacuated.

"The boat was crashing into the wood posts, and was hitting it and you could hear 'Boom.' The whole pier was rocking. That's why the police told us to get off the pier," fisherman Thomas Pan said.

No one was seriously hurt in the collision.

"All of those persons rescued refused any further treatment and transport," Cpt. Glenn White of the Newport Beach Fire Department said.

The pier had been shut down for more than 13 hours until an inspector could assess its structural integrity.

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