Passenger describes moment ferry ran aground near Bushwick Inlet

Jonathan Winamer, a passenger on the boat, says he and his family were onboard coming home from a trip to the beach. He says his biggest concern was his 1-year-old daughter.

News 12 Staff

Jun 6, 2021, 12:16 PM

Updated 1,222 days ago

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The ferry that ran aground late Saturday afternoon after experiencing a mechanical issue has been removed from Bushwick Inlet.
Three boat crew from the Coast Guard and FDNY crews sprung into full rescue mode as the boat began to take on water and began to sink.
News 12 was told that that one crew member experienced a minor injury during the incident. There were six other crew members on board along with 118 passengers.
Chopper 12 above the scene, 6/5/2021
The Seastreak ferry normally goes back and forth from Highlands, New Jersey to East 35th Street in Manhattan – but the mechanical issue caused it to lose power and lose control of steering.
Jonathan Winamer, a passenger on the boat, says he and his family were onboard coming home from a trip to the beach. He says his biggest concern was his 1-year-old daughter.
"The boat was tilting and that was a little scary,” he told News 12. “When they say, ‘Everybody, go on the right side of the boat,’ then you're thinking, like, this is a big boat – if they're worried that our weight is going to cause a problem then maybe it's actually going to go down. There was a moment I got a little more relaxed when they said the boat was on the bottom of the ground so it couldn't entirely sink."
The Coast Guard is now in charge of the investigation, saying in a statement that it is working on a full inspection of the vessel to make sure this doesn’t happen again.