While investigators are still piecing together just how it happened, state officials say winter weather is likely to blame for eight vessels breaking loose near Troy, on the Hudson River early Friday morning.
"I have never seen anything like this where you have this many barges loose at the same time. I’m sure it’s happened before but this seems like an extraordinary event," said NYSDEC Commissioner Basil Seggos.
For more than five hours, a collection of state agencies partnered with private tugboat operators to coral the loose barges and boats.
“It was no easy maneuver. It was like watching some sort of coordinated ballet out there with three different tugs at any given time, pushing these barges up along the shore in some pretty treacherous conditions,” Seggos said.
Among the vessels, the Rusty Anchor restaurant boat and the Captain JP cruise ship.
"It was a nice boat. Comfortable, clean, and it's sad to see it right there," said Watervliet resident Denise Dunson.
Aiming to keep drivers safe during the morning commute, authorities rushed to temporarily close bridges spanning the Hudson as the boats and barges approached.
“It was a quick and coordinated effort to close the area bridges. It was minimal disruption to the motoring public,” said Captain Mark Bellinger, NYSP Troop G Zone 1 commander.
While the Rusty Anchor was able to scrape past an Amtrak bridge and other crossings, suffer what appears to be only marginal damage, the Captain JP got stuck.
“A couple of the barges did hit the various bridges but at this point we don’t see any structural damage," Seggos said.
Officials believe the swift work of the men and women on the river Friday prevented the impact from being worse.
“What they did was fairly extraordinary, being able to pull the barges in and largely, hopefully, without any damage," Seggos said.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation also provided a list of the current locations for the vessels.
- Capt. JP is being secured in Troy
- Rusty Anchor Barge is secured at the Port of Albany
- Empty Garbage hauler barge is secured at the Port of Albany
- Tug Boat Betty is secured at the Port of Albany and is now out of the water
- One Barge is secured between the Patroon Island Bridge and the Menands-Troy Bridge
- Two other barges are secured north of the Menands-Troy Bridge
- Mini Barge sunk and recovery operations are being contemplated