The U.S. Coast Guard rescued a whale-watching tour boat on Wednesday after the vessel experienced a mechanical malfunction, leaving it stranded with 49 passengers at the mouth of Yaquina Bay in Newport.

The 62-foot Discovery sent out a mayday call around 12:45 p.m. after the boat started producing smoke and lost power, officials said.

The Coast Guard station at Yaquina Bay picked up the call and immediately sent out two boats, Coast Guard spokesperson Steve Strohmaier told The Oregonian/OregonLive.

The rescue boats arrived within 8 minutes and quickly discovered they wouldn’t have to evacuate passengers because the boat wasn’t at risk of catching fire or in imminent danger of sinking, Strohmaier said.

But without propulsion, the Discovery was stranded — and could end up being pushed

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