Sistersville ferry sinks(WTAP)

By Juwan Allen

Published: Apr. 12, 2026 at 7:37 PM EDT|Updated: 24 hours ago

SISTERSVILLE, W.Va. (WTAP) -The mayor of Sistersville says the city learned last week that the community’s ferry was taking on water, and efforts to address the problem ultimately ended with the vessel sinking.

Mayor William “Bill” Rice said he was first alerted Friday by the ferry board chairman, who reported the ferry was taking on water and that they were having difficulty reaching last year’s captain. Rice said the city began gathering equipment to remove water, but a vacuum truck the city planned to use was unavailable because it was being serviced.

Rice said crews later tried using pumps to drain the ferry, but the vessel’s position made it difficult to move water because of the elevation. He said a barge portion of the ferry was sticking up off the apron, and pumps could not get the water out as needed.

In an attempt to reposition the vessel so crews could access it more easily, Rice said they brought in a large forklift from a local company and pushed it down into the water. That’s when it began to go under.

“Once we put it in the water, it went down within a minute, a minute and a half, 2 minutes,” Rice said.

As for what caused the ferry to take on water, Rice said it was not immediately clear. He said one possibility is damage sustained during periods of high water this winter, when the ferry was pushed up on the bank twice.

With the ferry now inoperable, Rice said the focus has shifted to environmental protection and cleanup.

“First priority, from the U.S. Coast Guard, it’s clean up — clean up the site,” Rice said.

Rice said Clean Harbors is expected to come from Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, and that local agencies are also assisting, including the Martinsville Fire Department and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.

Rice said the ferry had been scheduled to open in May, and he expects the incident will impact tourism.

“We get a lot of tourism from it,” he said.

Salvage and repair costs could be significant. Rice said he received an estimate from a salvage company in the Bellaire area that to raise the ferry and transport it to Bellaire would be “$100,000 right off.”

Rice said the city is still evaluating what comes next, including the possibility of repairs or changes to the ferry’s engines. He said replacement options may also be discussed if repairs are not feasible.

For now, Rice said, the priority remains cleanup and getting the ferry out of the water so officials can better determine the extent of the damage and what it will take to return service.

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UMRA note: Large boats require 365 day per year attention.