Ship Hits Dredge New York in Newark Bay

CORRECTED STORY

The Great Lakes Dredge and Dock dredge New York was struck by a ship while dredging in Newark Bay on Thursday January 24. there were no injuries.

|!|The dredge did not sink and is repairable|!| said Bill Hanson of Great Lakes Dredge and Dock.

Shortly before 2:00 p.m. the 669-foot tanker the Orange Sun flying under a Liberian flag was enroute from Port Newark and struck the dredge New York which was in place with spuds down preparing to begin dredging.

Newark Bay was closed to vessel traffic for about five hours under the authority of the the Vessel Traffic Service at Coast Guard Sector New York.

There were no injuries to the seven people on the New York nor to the 20-member crew of the Orange Sun. The Coast Guard immediately placed an investigation team on the scene to conduct an assessment and begin an investigation into the cause of the collision.

The dredge New York was in Newark Bay in association with the $2.5 billion project to deepen New York Harbor and surrounding channels to 50 feet from 45 feet. Deepening of the channels will allow docking of bigger container ships. The Army Corps of Engineers if managing the project on behalf of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.