Coast Guard investigates incidents after passing a ferry in the San Francisco Ferry Building

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) –

Passengers aboard the Golden Gate Ferry who crashed on Friday afternoon at the San Francisco Ferry Terminal said they had received no warnings. The US Coast Guard is now investigating the fact that the boat touched the end of the wharf near the box office, and then crashed onto the dock near Door B. Witnesses filmed the accident in front of the camera.

The damaged ferry will have to be brought back to Larkspur and this will probably happen on Saturday. The metal hull is perforated and struck hard enough to break concrete and metal railings on the dock.

People on the wharf and on the boat could say that something was wrong with the speed at which the ferry was approaching. Witnesses took out their mobile phones and recorded them.

"The captain – nothing was happening over the intercom and you might have thought they would have sounded horn or anything to let people know," said Jack Wahl, passenger of the ferry.

The passengers of the MS San Francisco Golden Gate Ferry said they have not been officially notified of the imminent accident.

"We were joking about the fact that we were going too fast to get there." Immediately after we stopped, we broke the first stack and headed back into the harbor itself, "said ferry passenger Gavin Martz.

People eating at the San Francisco Ferry Building saw the boat arrive around 2:30 pm in the afternoon.

"I yelled at my table," Oh my God, here's a boat and it's hot, "said Kelly Schirber, a witness who dined at The Slanted Door restaurant.

"It was really hectic, there was a lot of shouting on board," recalls Martz.

Some took cameras as the ferry approached, others ran.

"I thought it would go straight to the restaurant, so I started running in the opposite direction," said Angelina Sivoia, who was dining with her mother Kelly Schirber.

The impact cracked the concrete, spilled the railing and rattled The Slanted Door restaurant.

"The handrail looks like a simple piece of metal, it is actually an extremely solid backup that guarantees that if such an event occurred, people would no longer be injured on the ground," he said. Priya Clemens, spokeswoman for Golden Gate Ferry.

US Coast Guard investigators will now examine computer systems to determine the speed at which the boat was moving and whether the master was in control.

"The captain said that it was a technical failure," Wahl said.

The five members of the crew will undergo a drug test and will be questioned, which is a policy according to Golden Gate Ferry. The Coast Guard will also review boat maintenance records.

"Ships are frequently inspected by the US Coast Guard, resulting in a lot of surveillance," said Lieutenant-Commander Matthew Zinn, US Coast Guard Investigation Officer.

The boat can carry about 750 passengers, but had a light load of 53 people on Friday. Two people reported minor injuries. A dealer suffered from a bruised hip and a passenger complained of having back pain, but refused to seek treatment. The ferry service has not been delayed due to the accident. It will run as planned, but without the MS San Francisco during the investigation and repairs.