8-Dec-16 – No one was hurt but so far, this year, 20 people have fallen overboard while going through Chicago Harbor Lock.

Alcohol was involved in some of those cases, according to the new lockmaster, Selwyn Valley, but other times a passenger on a boat has fallen in because they are holding onto a line attached to the lock. They are holding on so tightly that when their boat moves, they fall in.

“They’re going to give before my line gives,” says Valley.

When someone falls overboard, the driver of the boat turns off the engine. Lock personnel throw life rings to the person in the water.

“Most of the time, they climb right back onto the boat.”

Valley says that during his first season as lockmaster, 60,078 vessels passed through the lock from the Chicago River to Lake Michigan or the other way around.

According to United States Coast Guard, in Sector Lake Michigan, that includes Chicago, there were at least 1,400 response cases this year, resulting in 62 lives saved along with $10 million worth of property.

“A very successful season and one that could not be done, obviously, without our partners, especially here in the Chicago area, between fire and police and…everybody else who is out on the water,” said Sector Commander Amy Cocanour (left) on Wednesday at the annual meeting of Chicago Harbor Safety Committee.

Chicago Harbor Lock is the second busiest lock in the United States, as far as recreational boats, says U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It is the fourth busiest for commercial traffic.