Two recreational boats collided Saturday afternoon in ocean waters near Long Branch, leaving one man dead and another with injuries in the wake of the accident.
According to several reports, the man, whose name has not yet been released by the New Jersey State Police, was originally taken to Jersey Shore Medical Center in Neptune for head injuries. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital. The other passenger was reportedly in shock immediately after the accident.
The United States Coast Guard’s 5th District Public Affairs Office stated that an 18 foot-long pleasure craft and a 36 foot-long pleasure craft named “No Surrender” were involved in an accident at about 1:15 p.m. today, colliding in the Atlantic Ocean about a mile and a half south of Long Branch.
“Personnel aboard the No Surrender, a 36 foot-long pleasure craft with four people aboard, contacted Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay watchstanders informing them of the incident, and that the two people aboard an 18 foot-long pleasure craft sustained injuries,” said Petty Officer Brandyn Hill of the United States Coast Guard’s 5th District Public Affairs Office.
Passengers of the “No Surrender” retrieved both men aboard the 18 foot-long craft, and brought them onto the other boat. The “No Surrender” then headed into the Shark River, where they were met and escorted to the United States Coast Guard Station located there by crews aboard a small 25 foot-long Response Boat and a 47 foot-long Motor Life Boat from the station.
“Personnel from the New Jersey State Police are on scene, and the cause of the accident is under investigation,” Hill said on Saturday.
or did that rule go away because he is a Professional?
Suggestions: 1) Please turn on your navigation lights on in foggy conditions in the day time to help make your vessel more visible. 2) Please use a fog horn or fog bell in foggy conditions 'as required' under navigation rules, so you can be heard when you cannot be easily seen. 3) Please Slow down to a speed that is compatible with your range of sight. Someone is always at fault in every accident___they do not Just Happen. Had either vessel been using their fog horn or fog bell AS REQUIRED__THIS TRAGIC INCIDENT MAY NOT HAVE HAPPENED. It is accidents that bring down more government rules and regulations upon us all. That said___far more people die in backyard swimming pools in NJ each year than in boating collisions.
You are correct in all that you say. The ROR require the sounding of 1prolonged blast, (4-6sec) of a vessel under way on reduced visibility, and a vessel anchored has a similar requirement. And to the individual who decried "more government", if the struck vessel had radar, and a lookout (required under the ROR), they may have detected the incoming vessel in time to avoid the collision. Not more government, just common sense. The captain of the Yellowfin will likely face some action, as will others involved. In a marine casualty, cause is always bidirectional to some degree.