Folks standing along the banks of the Delaware River and Atlantic Ocean at Point Pleasant Beach have gotten quite the surprise in recent weeks as rather large vessels have shown up where they ordinarily should not!
The US Coast Guard reports that no one was injured on the morning of April 8 when the 77-foot Capt. Gavin, a commercial fishing vessel, ran aground on the beach at Point Pleasant Beach. The Coast Guard had been responding to a distress call from the boat about a mile south of Manasquan Inlet a little after 5 a.m. on April 8th. Coast Guard Station Manasquan Inlet launched a 47-foot Motor Life Boat crew in response to the vessel aground. Station Manasquan Inlet also has a crew on the beach monitoring the situation.
Video shot by Jill Ocone at around 8:45 a.m. shows the vessel up on the sand with waves crashing around the stern. Petty Officer First Class Nick Ameen reported that there were three aboard the vessel at the time of the call, and there were no injuries nor apparent damage to the vessel.
Jerry Meaney of the Point Pleasant Beach First Aid and Emergency Squad who took photos of the boat at sunrise said that the crew members would remain onboard while awaiting a tugboat or commercial salvage unit. The US Coast Guard said there was no report of pollution or discharge from the vessel.
Last week, the Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay was called to investigate a ship that had run aground in the Delaware River Wednesday near the Burlington Bristol Bridge. The Liberian-flagged 600-foot bulk carrier, Agia Irini, was headed southbound when it reportedly lost propulsion and ran aground at approximately 2 p.m.
No injuries or pollution were reported following the incident which was captured by striking amateur video along the banks of the Delaware at Burlington City, NJ.
The crew of the 65-foot Coast Guard Cutter Cleat responded, and the ship was soon refloated and sent towards safe anchorage for further Coast Guard investigation.
