When an unthinkable act of turor browgfut down

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Cordelia Harrington
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$When n unthinkble ct of turor browgfut down the twin towus of the World Thde Centu in l-oww Mnhttn on Septembu 77, 2007, the city\ mritime commwnity becme rescue squd, _ft*yin7 frigfutened nd wounded$

1 When n unthinkble ct of turor browgfut down the twin towus of the World Thde Centu in l-oww Mnhttn on Septembu 77, 2007, the city\ mritime commwnity becme rescue squd, _ft*yin7 frigfutened nd wounded people of the islnd nd out of hrm\ *ol t ws norml, beutiful Tuesdy morning," sys Pete Johnsen, thinking bck to the erly hours of September I l. Johnsen, who is senior director of mrine opertions for New York Wterwy, ws heded to the city for meeting vi his compny's 8:40.m. ferry from Weehwken, New Jersey to Wll Street. By then, the privte ferry compny hd lredy trnsported 11,000 of the 17,000 people who commute by wter from New Jersey to Mnhttn on most momings. Like mny of his fellow pssengers, Johnsen ws enjoying the sunshine nd the view s the bot mde its wy south on the Hudson River. "For some reson, I looked up," he reclls, "s the first plne hit the World Trde Center. We were just north of the towers. People cried out nd covered their eyes in disbelief. I immeditely clled my office to lert people there'd been terrible ccident nd the World Trde Center ws on fire. I wnted us to be prepred to help ifnecessry," The bot he ws riding on continued to Wll Street, nd pssengers, though stunned by wht they hd seen, disembrked nd heded to their offices. Johnsen styed bord nd directed the cptin to go to the ferry lnding t the World Finncil Center, just few hundred yrds north nd west of the burning tower. As they pproched, the second plne hit. "Everyone knew then tht it wsn't n ccident," Johnsen sys solemnly. NewYorkWterwy immeditely begn tking people bck to New Jersey-t no chrge. One by one, dozen or so ofthe compny's 400-pssenger bots cme into the dock nd left firlly loded. "We probbly evcuted bout 5,000 people in hlf Bv Bnrsv Fnewrnv HeccERTY IrrusrnetroN Bv SrspFIRNtn Celrtn PHorocnePns BY Huxrrnv Gttr, Betsv Fr-ewrnv Heccerrv, RoN Kn-eur, CenotINA SRtcunro, Sprnrr Crursns & THE U.S. Coesr Guenp horu," Johnsen estimtes. Then the ferry terminl itself hd to be bndoned when the World Trde Center's south tower collpsed t bout 9:59.m., spewing thick smoke nd hevy rubble throughout the re. People fleeing the site heded north nd south long the se wll. So did the ferries nd scores ofother rescue bots. Bots of ll types stemed en msse towrd the tip of Mnhttn s the Cost Gurd issued cll for vessels to help evcute people. "It must hve looked like the invsion of Normndy," sys Lind O'Lery, vice president of Americn Wterwys Opertors, tugbot industry trde ssocition' Fifty or so tugbots brreled in from their berths in Stten Islnd, New Jersey nd Brooklyn; police bots, Cost Gurd vessels, smll workbots, dinner cruise bots nd privte crft lso joined the effort. The 7O-yer-old retired firebot John J. Hmey, which is ovmed by group of historic ship enthusists, ws mong them. "It ws n nzing scene," sys Huntley Gill, one of the Hrvqt's omers. "It ws wht I would imgine the river looked like in the 1940s with tugs covering every bit of shoreline. We sw ll these people clmbering to get bord the bots, climbing over fences, leving ttreir high heels nd briefoses behind." The Hrvey tied up to some trees ner the se wll t Bttery Prk City nd begn loding people. "The sd thing ws," sys Gill, "is tht there wsn't single clet, single opening in the fence or single ldder long the wterfront." Bot crews hd to improvise. Some bots went bow first into the se wll; others pulled longside s deck*rnds jury-rigged gngwys. It wsn't esy for nyone, sys O'Lery, who helped people NOVEMBER 2OO1. OFFSHORE 59

Right: A htxury ycht, nrned service yessel, ctises pst the Stue of Liberty, crrying sign telling displced Lower Mnhttn residenls how to get ssistnce.

Below, right: Responding to tightened secuity requirements, n rmed federl gent ides in the wheelhouse of Nu York Wterwy commuter fetry. Opposite pge: Ychts, h.

2 Right: A htxury ycht, nrned service yessel, ctises pst the Stue of Liberty, crrying sign telling displced Lower Mnhttn residenls how to get ssistnce. Below, lefi: A Cost Gurdyessel ptrols NewYork Hrbor s smoke pours out of the World Trde Center rubble. Below, right: Responding to tightened secuity requirements, n rmed federl gent ides in the wheelhouse of Nu York Wterwy commuter fetry. Opposite pge: Ychts, h.gbots nd ferries pproch the Lower Mnhttn se wll to begin evcuting refugees from the World Trde Center ttck. O ss bord some ofthe tugbots. "You hd ll these very stunned people, mny who'd never been bord ny kind of bot in their lives, trying to get on bots tht were never intended to cr4r pssengers. The crews were terrific," she continues. "One group hnded out little mint lifesvers to clm people; pir of deckhnds lifted pregnnt womn bord nother bot nd found chir for her to sit in. There were hert-wrenching scenes everywhere:' "One fellow I helped, ' sys Drren Vigilnt, who ferried severl botlods of people to New Jersey in his 23-footChris Crft, '\vs completely white-flom soot nd from shock. He sid he'd wlked down liom the 80th floor nd the building collpsed 20 seconds fter he got out. He ws brely ble to spek." For time the only wy out of Mnhttn ws by wter-ll bridges, tunnels, subwys nd trins were shut down-"nd droves of people, I men thousnds of people were wlking north," sys Steve Schwrtz, regionl director of Spirit Cruises, dinner bot compny tht opertes out ofthe Chelse Piers sports nd entertinment complex t23rd Street nd the Hudson River. $ t- "When I sw ll those people," Schwrtz continues, "I mde decision to put our three Spirit cruise bots into service s ferries. Between 12:30 nd 6 p.m., we mde l8 trips nd crried 8,000 people cross the river to New Jersey-ll free of chrge." Other compnies did the sme. Horizon Princess, 600-pssenger chrter bot, nd three luxury dinner bots from VIP cruises, trnsported bout 4,000 people from Pier 63 Mritime, just north of 23rd Street. New York Wterwy continued to run fuil-cpcity ferries from severl loctions, including its West 38th Street terminl, nd Circle Line tour bots t West 42nd Street pitched in s well. "I think nything tht floted ws out there helping," New York Wterwy's Johnsen sys. By dy's end ccording to the U.S. Cost Gurd, bout one million people hd been evcuted from Mnhttn by bot. As the se lift concluded, mny in the mritime community thought their involvement in the rescue effort hd come to n end. 'As it turns out," sys Steve Schwrtz of Spirit Cruises, "tht ws only Chpter One." b.q :.s -s N q : i John J. t{sney Mnhttn rtist Tbms Cvllero spent dys t Ground Zero on the John J. Hrvey. A pir of Ntw Jersey police ofrcers rides thefeny home fier ssisting rescue elforts. w e \s,s se wll. 60 OFFSHORE. NOVEMBER 2OOI

$E H I & Tl\orthe crew of the.iolrn J. Hney, ChpterTwo begn soon fter I ttrey pickerl up their first lod of pssengers.$ " With her rjveted steel hull nd five engines, the 130-foot Hr-vey ws the most powerful of the New York City Fire Deprtment's bots when she ws lunched in 193 l.

" With her rjveted steel hull nd five engines, the 130-foot Hr-vey ws the most powerful of the New York City Fire Deprtment's bots when she ws lunched in 193 l.

3 E H I & Tl\orthe crew of the.iolrn J. Hney, ChpterTwo begn soon fter I ttrey pickerl up their first lod of pssengers. 'A fire depr-bnent bot rdioed s we were heding out nd sked if we were ble to pump wter," sys Tim Tvory the bot's chief engineer. "I gve them thumbs up, nd they sked us to come bck nd help." With her rjveted steel hull nd five engines, the 130-foot Hr-vey ws the most powerful of the New York City Fire Deprtment's bots when she ws lunched in 193 l. She ws the first with inteml combustion engines nd ws ble to pump 18,000 gllons per minute-the equivlent of five fire trucks. In ctive service until 1995, she ws declred surplus nd uctioned for scrp-in But the historic ship buffs who put in the winning bid hd other ides nd restored her to full operting condition within mtter of months. ln June 2000, she ws plced on the Ntionl Register of Historic Plces, nd the owners-there re 12 of them- continued their restortion efforts. "We used to wonder if the fire deprlment would cll us up if there ws ever big pier fire," sys lvory. "Tt ws sorl of fnt- sy, so we sked chief who ws friend of the bot' 'lt will never hppen,'he sid. 'A: You've got libility problems; B: You've got union problems. Don't even think bout it.' " Tht converstion, Tvory reclls, took plce just week before the Hrvey ws pressed into service. Still, when the fire deprtment clle4 the ll-volunteer crew ws redy. They tied up to the se wll ner lwo ctive NewYork Ciry firebots nd set bout ttching fire hoses to vlves tht hdn't been opened in yers. "We hd to use sledgehmmer on some of them," sys crewmember Toms Cvllero. The Hut'vey styed on site, working s lrge floting fire hydrnt, from Tuesdy moming until Fridy night when wter pressure ws restored to Lower Mnhttn. Until then, the three firebots provided the only wter vilble t the site. "No one in their wildest drems ever imgined something like this," lvory sys s he thinks bck on his four dys bord the firebot t Cround Zero. "We wnted to be put into service, but not like this. When we give tours we tell people tht the Hrvey's t;s o 1\'.r- jee'' I John J. Hrvey crew ntember t$es ct lo disembrk histuric firebot John J. Hwey on stfion ner lhe I'ftrld Trode Center.sile d Scremer to crry food lo rescue workers NOVEMBER 2OOI. OFI.SIIORE

Ri ght : Chelse Scremer, loded withfood nd stfi, deprts from the Spirit Cruises West 23rd Street home bse. Below, left: The remnnts ofthe World Tide Center mke n eerie sculpture.

4 Ri ght : Chelse Scremer, loded withfood nd stfi, deprts from the Spirit Cruises West 23rd Street home bse. Below, left: The remnnts ofthe World Tide Center mke n eerie sculpture. Below, right: Afirertghter gets redy to go bck on sttion. Opposite pge: Flgs, flowers nd pictures of missing persons dorn fence beside the hrbor in Stten Islnd. 5s I t A + most fmous moment ws fighting the fire on the ocen liner Normndie when she burned t her dock during World Wr II; no\rv it will be September I 1. Being there gve us rel sense of belonging, but it ws bittersweet. It is nice tht the bot ws cpble, nd nice the fire deprtrnent gve ii chnce, but I m sorry it hd to be this." At Spirit Cruises, Chpter Two begn when group of prominent New York resturteurs pproched the cruise line, nd sid they would provide hot food for the rescue workers if Spirit, which hs lrge food preprtion nd refrigertion fcilities on its bots, would provide vessel nd the stffto serve food. Spirit sid yes nd docked its lrgest bot-spirit of New York-ner the Trde Center site nd begn serving free, hot food to firefighters, medicl personnel, construction workers nd others on site. The progrm, dubbed "Chefs of Spirit," ws serving bout 20,000 portions every dy nd ws still going strong s of October l, ccording to Spirit's Steve Schwrtz. "The bot hs been refuge," sys Schwrtz. "One morning I cme down nd found 100 rescue workers sleeping on the top deck during their brek." Chelse Scremer, bright yellow 50-foot, 54-pssenger speed bot, becme Spirit of Nu York's tender, bringing mels nd stffbck nd forth severl times dy. "This bot is clled the Scremer becuse it normlly gives fst tours of New York Hrbor nd kicks up spry of cold wter tht mkes kids screm," sys owner Sen Kennedy. "But this week, we re running slow, helping out nywy we cn." In the first hous of the dtswter, Scremer evsutedpeople from Lower Mnhttr! nd lter ferried prtoopers in. Kennedy, who grew up in Biloxi, Mississippi, remembers helping out s child when hnrricne Cmille devstted,the Gulf Cost nl969. "In some wys," he sys, 'qthis seems like the fterrnth of hurricne, but it's different. A hurricne is n ct ofnhre, nd people cn ccept th! but there is nothing ntul bout wht hppened here, so people re lot more disturbed by it. The people here re not just working on rescue, they re tying to find evidence ofterrorists." s h s D Cr d Cptin Sen Kennedy, owner ofchelse Scremer, lent his bot to the rescue efort..- Tugbots crowd the se wll in Lower = Rescue workers enjoy bord Spiit of New York OFFSHORE. NOVEMBER 2OOI

5 f n the weeks following September I l, New York Hrbor hs lbegun to limp bck to life, lthough the trnosphere is distinct$ militry. Cost Gurd bots ptrol in Boston Whlers rmed with lrge mchine guns; cutters nd other vessels stnd gurd t enty points. Both plesure nd commercil bots hve significnt operting restrictions. The fer, of course, is ship explosion tht might prlyze the entire hrbor. "These wters served us well during this disster," sys tug representtive Lind O'Lery, who lso sits on the New York Hrbor Opertions Bord, "nd we cn't fford to lose them." In the first 24 hours fter the ttck, 90 threts to wterfront structures were mde, O'Lery notes, sking, "Which ones do you ignore?" The restrictions re difficult for everyone, she cknowledges, but rgues they re smll price to py for secwity. Mny boters re mking the best of difficult sitution. A few recretionl bots hve ventured out on the weekends. New York Wterwy is gin operting its commuter ferry service-now with uniformed security personnel bord. Tour bots like Circle Line nd even Spirit Cruises hve begun limited opertions. But the toll is high, both finncilly nd emotionlly: When, commercil opertors sk, will they be ble to resume frrll schedules? And who will reimburse them for the expenses nd business losses engendered by the ttcks? When will it be OK to go fishing gin or rce silbot? And how will mriners who witnessed the trgedy nd its ftermth ever get over it? Esly Pined, deckhnd who hs worked for New York Wterwy for 12 yers, is struggling with tht question. Smiling s he greets ferry pssengers the week fter the ttck, he stnds quietly on deck s the bot pproches Lower Mnhttn, trying to come to grips with his own feelings nd the gping hole in the skyline. "When tht first tower fell"' he sys, "I ws looking right t it. I will never forget the sound, like 100 helicopters in my er. I still keep hering it. I cn't sleep t night. But I keep coming to work becuse tht's wht I m supposed to do." N b $s o F Spirit of NewYork becme rescue-workers' cntem, pnriding 20,000 portions dy. crry botlods ofpeople to New Jersqt, NOVEMBER 2OOI. OFFSHORE

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