Fuel dock that played role in San Francisco boat rescue operations could be shut down

By CBS Bay Area

San Francisco’s only marine fueling dock played a crucial role in Tuesday’s rescue operation of a boat near Alcatraz Island, but now that dock could soon be shut down.

Gashouse Cove fuel dock is located along the waterfront in the Marina near Fort Mason. Construction work next year will force the dock to cease operations.

Christine Kaplan saw flashing lights on San Francisco Bay, then heard sirens along Marina Boulevard and knew her fuel dock was about to play a central role in a major rescue.

“The police were coming in very fast. And as soon as I could see the boat, the driver yelled to me that he had a victim on board,” said Christine Kaplan, owner of Gashouse Cove fuel dock.

During Tuesday’s response to the sinking of a boat near Alcatraz Island on Tuesday, Kaplan believes nine of the eleven emergency vessels involved stopped at the dock to refuel. One victim was pronounced dead at the dock, three other passengers are missing and presumed dead.

Kaplan said 16 rescued passengers were also brought ashore along the dock before being taken to hospitals.

“When they need help, when they need shoreside assistance, when they need a place for paramedics, they come here,” Kaplan said.

For more than 50 years, Kaplan has owned the only fuel dock on San Francisco’s northern waterfront. While recreational boaters use the dock, Kaplan says a large part of her business supports emergency response.

“We service the Coast Guard, fire, police, and even CalTrans.”

But she says that role could soon change. A city plan to remake the Marina’s east harbor includes environmental cleanup and a new waterfront park at Gashouse Cove. Construction is expected to begin next year.

Kaplan says the project would shut down her small business for at least a year. She says she has been given no guarantees her business will survive, even if she could afford a lengthy shutdown.

“I have been told I should plan to close next year. That it’s not in the budget, and there’s no interest in keeping it.”

As for the future of water emergency operations in San Francisco, the city’s response vessels are docked in West Harbor. But Kaplan believes losing this fuel dock in the East Harbor would make responses like Tuesday’s more difficult.

She says it’s no accident that this space has been leaned on time and again for refuge.

“It’s stunning to think we’re considered an amenity, and not an essential service for the city,” Kaplan said.

We reached out to the Parks and Rec Department for comment, but have not heard back.

We specifically wanted to know how emergency response might adapt as the dock shuts down, and if there were plans to keep this fuel station when the dock reopens.