Crime & Safety

Manasquan Inlet Now Open to Outbound Marine Traffic

Decision made because capsized boat shifted away from inlet to other side of jetty

The Manasquan Inlet is now open to outbound, as well as inbound, marine traffic now that a capsized boat has floated away from the inlet to the other side of the south jetty.

The Coast Guard said on Friday morning that the Captain of the Port, based in Philadelphia, made the decision on Thursday to re-open the inlet to outbound traffic, based on the shifting of the boat that had capsized early Wednesday morning.

Outbound traffic had been prohibited all day Wednesday as crews had worked to contain a minor fuel and oil spill and find boat equipment underwater.

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A tug and barge to move the Atlantic Traveler may arrive on scene Friday or Saturday, but probably will not remove the boat until early next week, said Coast Guard Petty Officer First Class Brian Martin.

The minimal leaks of diesel fuel and oil from the capsized boat have mostly dissipated into the Manasquan Inlet and ocean, as efforts are made to find boat equipment, the Coast Guard said late Wednesday afternoon.

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The vessel had 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel and 350 gallons of oil on board, Martin said.

State marine police have been trying to use sonar to locate boat equipment, such as cables, but the rough waters where the ocean and inlet meet are making that difficult, Martin had said on Wednesday.

The Coast Guard reports they rescued three crew members who are unharmed.

William Hill, 58, Brick, Matthew Morris, 19, Point Pleasant, and William A. Lewis, 30, Marshallberg, N.C., were rescued and declined medical treatment after their boat slammed into rocks on the Point Pleasant Beach side of the inlet, Martin said.

When the boat capsized, the Coast Guard was already on the scene and pulled them out of the water which was about 52 degrees, Martin said.

Crew members were interviewed as part of the ongoing investigation and then left about 11:30 a.m., authorities said.

The Atlantic Traveler's problems started when the fishing vessel was outbound and a hydraulic hose broke, causing the boat to lose steering, Martin said.

The crew called the Coast Guard by radio at 4:53 a.m., reporting they were heading towards the south jetty, which is on the Point Beach side.

At 5 a.m., a 47-foot Coast Guard life boat arrived on the scene, threw a half-inch polypropelene "messenger line" to the fishing boat and, at 5:03 a.m., tried towing it, Martin said.

He said the Coast Guard's hope was that the crew would continue pulling in the messenger line, which was attached to a thicker 3 1/4-inch nylon line, and hook the loop of the nylon line onto the boat.

However, the thicker line was never attached, Martin said. Instead, the crew, terrified of crashing into the rocks and rushing in the pitch darkness to tether onto the Coast Guard boat, attached only the thinner messenger line to the boat's cleat, which is an attachment point.

"It doesn't take much for that to snap," Martin said, referring to the messenger line.

At 5:06 a.m. the Traveler hit the south jetty and waves knocked the boat up onto the rocks, Martin said. As the boat began slipping down the rocks, the messenger line broke under the strain and the boat slid down and capsized, Martin said.


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