Passengers Return After Spending All Night on Whale Watch Boat

More than 150 passengers that spent overnight on a whale-watching boat off the Salem coast returned safely on Tuesday morning.

The Boston Harbor Cruises boat’s propeller became snagged in a lobster trap rope at about 4:30 p.m., according to a statement by the U.S. Coast Guard. Boston Harbor Cruises is the same company that runs the Salem Ferry between Salem and Boston but the stranded cruise was a whale-watch that left from Boston.

Coast Guard Cutter Escanaba stayed with the 83-foot boat whale-watching boat, making with medical personnel available to evaluate the passengers and crew for medical concerns, according to the U.S. Coast Guard, but it was too rough - two-foot seas with 11 knot winds - to safely move the passengers onto another boat.

No injuries were reported. There were 157 passengers and six crew members aboard the whale-watching boat Cetacea.

Divers were able to free to boat on Tuesday morning. The trip was supposed to be three hours long and ended up lasting about 16 hours.

Once back at Long Wharf in Boston on Tuesday morning, passengers were refunded the coast of the trip plus given a $100 gift card to Boston Harbor Cruises and $500 cash, reported New England Cable News.