LakeCumberlandBoaters.com

NEWPORT, Ky. (AP) - A boat filled with sorority sisters broke free on the Ohio River, spinning away from a dock and colliding with another ship also carrying a sorority party.

No injuries were reported when the two boats, belonging to B&B Riverboats and carrying hundreds of Miami University students from Ohio, hit at about 8 p.m. EDT Friday.

One boat carrying the Alpha Phi sorority broke away from the dock, then hit a ship carrying the Gamma Phi Beta party.

Catherine Jones told The Kentucky Enquirer her group was told earlier in the night that the cruise was canceled because of the weather, but that their party that included dinner and dancing on the boat would go on as scheduled.

She and another passenger said that as dinner was being served, it was apparent that the boat was moving. Jones said the then looked over at a waiter and asked if there was a change of plans.

Jones said the waiter looked panicked and said they weren't supposed to be moving and no captain was on board.

"Out of nowhere, people started throwing life vests toward us," said Kyle Searer, a passenger on one of the boats.

The U.S. Coast Guard was called to the scene, though no officials could be immediately reached for comment.

Jones estimated the boat took at least a 180-degree turn and said that it wasn't fully released from the dock. It was not clear Friday evening if the gusty winds played a part in possibly causing a mooring to fail or if some of the lines slipped.

"Everyone's good. We still had a lot of fun," Searer said.

The collision on Friday came five weeks after a mooring on Jeff Ruby's Waterfront restaurant in Covington failed. On March 11, the boat traveled a short ways down the river and got lodged under the
Clay Wade Bailey Bridge.



(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)