Barge crashes into small shop

A barge laden with sand from dredging in Newport Bay sideswiped the landmark Pearson’s Port seafood market underneath Pacific Coast Highway Bridge on Saturday morning, an Orange County Harbor Patrol official said.

The barge bent the pilings back on the dock of the little shop, which is a one-room structure at the end of a pier under the bridge, said Sgt. John Hollenbeck of the Orange County Harbor Patrol.

The accident, which happened about 8 a.m. Saturday, also knocked everything off the shelves of the shop, Hollenbeck said.

“It was the sheer weight of the boat that caused the damage,” he said.

A tug boat was pulling the barge out to sea to dump sand from a dredging project in Newport Bay at the time of the accident, Hollenbeck said.

Nobody was at the shop when the barge hit it and there were no injuries, he said.

“We’re still assessing the damage, and we’re happy no one was here to get hurt,” said Terese Pearson, co-owner of Pearson’s Port.

The shop, which has been selling fresh fish, lobster, shrimp and crab for more than 35 years, is still open for business, Pearson said.

— Brianna Bailey