Coast Guard investigating man who leapt off Fire Island ferry into Great South Bay
Two days after a man leapt into the Great South Bay off the deck of a Fire Island ferry as it neared the dock in Bay Shore, officials confirmed there is an ongoing U.S. Coast Guard investigation into the incident — and that the jumper, a 24-year-old man from Queens, is facing a $2,500 fine.
Fire Island Ferries general manager Dave Anderson said he was scheduled to meet with a U.S. Coast Guard investigator Thursday as part of the ongoing investigation into the incident, which occurred around 6:45 p.m. on the Fourth of July as the ferry from Ocean Beach neared the Maple Avenue dock in Bay Shore. The incident was captured on cellphone footage since uploaded to a host of social media sites.
“Luckily enough, it happened where it did or it could’ve been a lot worse,” Anderson said, noting that the ferry was about 200 yards from the dock — and around 150 feet from shore when the man jumped.
Video shows the man, wearing only shorts, leap over the railing and into the water below.
“Our crew did what they’re trained to do,” Anderson said. “They immediately threw over a life buoy and deployed our man overboard ladder. And the captain got on the P.A. system and directed the man to swim back to the ladder. He chose not to — and swam to the bulkhead.”
Suffolk County police detained the jumper dockside, then ceded jurisdiction to the U.S. Coast Guard, which enforces all violations under maritime law. The maximum punishable fine for rail jumping from a ship is $25,000 — which is noted by signage, that is posted on all Fire Island Ferries vessels, Anderson said. That fine also applies to anyone jeopardizing the safety of the vessel or its passengers, Anderson said.
In most cases, a fine for a first offense is $2,500, officials said.
Officials did not name the man who jumped.
Signs on the ferries warn passengers that "rail jumping is prohibited and all offenders will be subject to civil penalties," Anderson noted.
The Coast Guard notified Anderson that three passengers last month were involved in a scuffle aboard another Fire Island ferry that forced the vessel to return to port — an incident that also required Ocean Beach Police to step in, Anderson said. That will also result in a $2,500 fine for three of the four involved, he said.
While a U.S. Coast Guard official from Sector Long Island Sound confirmed the active investigation into the ferry-jumping incident, a Coast Guard spokesman could not immediately be reached regarding the investigation on Thursday.
But, Anderson said: “These incidents are taken seriously. We had a guy three years ago jump off the boat in the same situation and not only was he arrested, but he was hit with a civil penalty … And, once you’ve got a civil penalty, that’s on your record. This isn’t fooling around.”
Anderson said the ferry involved in the incident Tuesday was carrying 359 passengers when the jumper leapt overboard.
“We have additional security on the ferries,” he said. “We’ve got deckhands standing watch. But, once you move past someone it’s hard to control what happens.”
Anderson said that from witness statements investigators have been able to gather, “apparently, there was somebody on board the boat who heard someone tell this guy, ‘I’ll give you a thousand dollars if you jump’ … People react first and think later. The evolution of social media has got people doing stupid things."
Of course, Anderson said, the situation could have been far worse.
“What people need to know is there are three giant propellers down there and they can take you under the boat, suck you right in," he said.
“That happens and there’s nothing left of you but bait," Anderson said. "You become chum. I hate to be that gruesome, but it’s the truth.”
Jumpers off boats in other waters
Long Island is not the only place that has faced the problem of jumpers.
In 2019, two men in New England were fined $2,500 each, after each jumped off ferries — first, an 18-year-old into waters in Falmouth, Massachusetts, from a ferry serving Martha’s Vineyard and Cape Cod, and a 19-year-old into Block Island, Rhode Island, waters, according to the publication WorkBoat.
Each was given a civil penalty for interfering with the safe operation of a vessel, in violation of Title 46 of the United States Code, Section 2302.
“Jumping into the water from a certificated passenger vessel such as a tour boat or charter vessel is not only dangerous for the person jumping, but it also endangers the lives of others onboard,” Commander Brian McSorley, deputy sector commander of Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England, said then. “Commercial passenger vessel crews are responsible for the safety of all passengers aboard their vessels and, in this case, their attention was diverted away from the safe operation of the vessel in order to try and retrieve the jumper from the water.”
Similar fines were issued in 2018 when a man climbed over the rail of a dinner cruise boat and jumped into the Columbia River in Richland, Washington, according to The Associated Press. He was fined $5,000, as was a man in 2015 who, on a dare, jumped off a charter fishing vessel into frigid waters in Marin County, California, The AP reported.
John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”
Updated now Newsday travel writer Scott Vogel took the ferry over to Block Island for a weekend of fun.
Updated now Newsday travel writer Scott Vogel took the ferry over to Block Island for a weekend of fun.
