A disabled boat carrying an adult and two young children started drifting toward a busy commercial shipping channel near Davis Islands on Saturday, prompting Hillsborough County deputies to jump in and pull all three to safety. Deputies secured the vessel, towed it out of the shipping lane and brought everyone to shore, with no injuries reported.
Port Tampa Vessel Traffic alerted the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Marine Unit after spotting the disabled boat edging into active ship traffic, according to WFLA. Deputies said they tied the drifting boat to an HCSO Safe Boat to head off any chance of a collision, then towed it back toward the Davis Islands boat ramp.
The alert came in shortly after 2 p.m., and the Marine Unit quickly located the vessel and escorted it out of the channel, according to local affiliate WWSB. Officials told the station the fast response helped avoid what could have been a dangerous encounter with commercial traffic, and the outlet documented the tow back to shore…