Crime & Safety

Capsized Fishing Vessel Hoisted from Ocean in Point Beach

Barge transported wreckage to New York City Monday night

Note: Check out video of the boat's removal in the media box to your right.

A salvage crew removed the remains of the capsized Atlantic Traveler just before 5 p.m. Monday on the northern end of Point Pleasant Beach.

By 5:15 p.m., the vessel had been fully lowered into the depths of the barge, which transported the wreckage to New York City Monday night.

Find out what's happening in Point Pleasantwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The tedious job of getting a 64-foot commercial fishing vessel out of the ocean was handled by two divers drilling holes into the hull, connecting cables through the holes and to the mammoth crane extended from the barge.

That work followed the work of an enormous claw, extending from the barge, that had been removing stray pieces of wreckage from in front of the rock jetty.

Find out what's happening in Point Pleasantwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The pieces, draped in thick, green seaweed, had been submerged near the remains of the capsized commercial fishing vessel.

The DonJon Marine Co. barge removed the capsized Atlantic Traveler, which has been in the water since .

Spectators on the jetty, beach and boardwalk watched on Monday afternoon as crews, monitored closely by the Coast Guard, worked to remove the wreckage.

When the boat capsized on May 11, it was just to the north of the end of the rock jetty and forced the Coast Guard to limit inlet traffic.

However, after a few days the remains floated over to the ocean side of the jetty and was no longer impeding inlet traffic.

The 64-foot Atlantic Traveler capsized after losing its steering and scraping up on the jetty rocks.

Three crew members, William "Skip" Hill, 58, Brick; Matthew Morris, 19, Point Pleasant; and William A. Lewis, 30, Marshallberg, N.C., were safely rescued by the Coast Guard.

Hill was at the scene Monday, watching the salvage process.

Rough seas and strong winds had repeatedly scuttled plans for a salvage crew to remove the boat owned by John Cole, who has declined comment.


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