WOODS HOLE, Mass. — Seven passengers aboard the M/V Martha's Vineyard became stuck in the vessel's onboard elevator on Wednesday afternoon.
At approximately 2:15 p.m., the ferry's elevator stopped working, just before reaching the upper deck.
One of the passengers on the elevator called 911 and a friend who was on the ferry but not inside the elevator. The friend then alerted crew members of the situation.
Once alerted, the vessel's chief engineer was able to open the elevator door and free the passengers safely before the local fire department responded.
“I understand he was telling everybody we would have to got through a different exit upstairs and back down the stairs and I was like ok," said Alize Taylor, a passenger.
The elevator has since been taken out of service.
An investigation has been launched into what exactly caused the elevator to stop working.
Steamship Authority General Manager Robert Davis released the following statement regarding this incident:
Today at approximately 2:15pm, aboard the M/V Martha's Vineyard, while the vessel was still docked in Woods Hole, seven passengers entered the onboard elevator. Just before reaching the upper deck, the elevator stopped operating properly, preventing the door from opening. One of the passengers on the elevator called 911 and also called a friend who was not on the elevator but onboard the vessel. That person alerted our crew. Once alerted, our chief engineer was able to open the elevator door and get the passengers out safely before the local fire department responded. The elevator has been taken out of service while we await a determination from an elevator technician as to what led to the issue.
This is just one of the recent problems the M/V Martha's Vineyard has faced.
In March, ferries to and from the Vineyard were canceled for two days because of mechanical failures with a faulty fuel pump.
About 10 days after the ferry had parts replaced, the ferry's service suffered due to a power outage, which caused a heavy backup in their service over one weekend in May.
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