Peninsula Daily News

PORT TOWNSEND — The cause of an explosion this morning on board a vessel moored near the Coast Guard Cutter Osprey in Port Townsend wasn’t immediately clear, but investigators believed it was gas related.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Nathan Bradshaw in Seattle said the 47-foot fishing vessel, the Silver Lady, suffered shrapnel damage and a hatch blew apart, but it didn’t take on water.

There was no damage to the cutter.

The explosion was in the rear of the fishing boat, according to East Jefferson Fire-Rescue spokesman Bill Beezley, who said the department was called to the scene at 8:16 a.m.

The owner, who was unidentified, was at the front of the boat and was not hurt, Beezley said.

Beezley said the hull in intact and there is no spill into the water.

He said that the Coast Guard is sending an investigative team to Port Townsend from Seattle because the explosion was so close to the Osprey.