The Staten Island Ferry in New York has had several impacts of this sort, when reverse did not engage, or the vessel went slightly off course. It is standard practice for them to deliberately strike the pilings on the way into the landing point. This is considered a safety measure and there has been at least one incident in which the captain missed the sides of the slip and barreled directly into the landing.   Needless to say, the landing point is not designed to act as a shock absorber. OOPS!