A 32-foot boat almost sank in the Thames River on Wednesday, with its four passengers abandoning ship at a beach in New London, the United States Coast Guard said.

Reports came in shortly before 7 p.m. of a vessel taking on water in the Thames River near Ledge Light lighthouse. The people were able to beach the boat and no one was injured, the Coast Guard said. No one had to be rescued from the water or from the boat.

The Coast Guard was at the scene as of 7:15 p.m. Wednesday evening, and said its personnel were standing by for any sort of pollution that may occur from the beached boat.

The Coast Guard emphasized that it’s important to have life jackets on a boat, and in this case, the passengers did. It said the passengers were fortunate to reach land before the boat sank.

s.spinella@theday.com