Boat that hit sandbar drifted off course
AN NYC FERRY boat carrying more than 20 passengers had veered from its proper route before hitting the sandbar that left it stuck for hours, the boat’s operators admitted Thursday.
The 26 people on board, including four crew members, were forced to climb down a ladder in gusty winds and icy temperatures to board small pontoon boats Wednesday evening.
The ferry, named the Flyer, was bound for lower Manhattan when it left from the Rockaway peninsula in Queens at 5:15 p.m. It got stuck about 10 minutes into the trip, according to passengers, who waited more than four hours to be rescued.
Officials from ferry operator Hornblower declined to say if a bumbling captain led the boat off route.
“While preliminary information indicates the vessel was off route, that’s something investigators will look at,” Hornblower senior vice president Cameron Clark said in a statement. “Safety is our No. 1 priority, and we will continue to review our training programs in order to ensure rider and crew safety.”
On Thursday, Hornblower, which runs the city-sponsored route, vowed to reimburse the stranded passengers with a yearlong NYC Ferry pass. Passengers will also get a dinner and movie package at iPic Theatre in the South Street Seaport as well as a $50 Uber credit.
Additionally, the three passengers who missed the Rangers hockey game will be reimbursed the value of their tickets and be given new ducats for an upcoming game.
“They did a great job trying to reimburse us for the inconvenience that we experienced yesterday,” said Jake Nicholson, 21, who was planning to go to the Blueshirts game Wednesday night with his brother and a friend. He said NHL officials also reached out with three free tickets to the Winter Classic scheduled at Citi Field on New Year’s Day.
The Wednesday night sandbar snafu was the second in two months for the NYC Ferry service, which launched May 1. A Rockaway-bound boat got stuck on a sandbar made of construction debris 100 feet off of Pier 11 on Nov. 27.
The mayor insisted to reporters Thursday the city-sponsored ferries are safe, and said, “I am demanding real answers from the contractor as to why this has happened.”