Nice save! Barge grounds in East River [VIDEO]

Check out this video of Eagle Service grounding just southwest of Hog Back in the East River in NYC. The video was shot and edited by Seth Greenspan, who was taping in a riverside park.  Props to Greenspan on the captions and smooth beats, and of course to the crews who got her out of quite the jam.

Here’s the description provided:

On March 18, 2011, the Eagle Service grounded a barge in the treacherous waters just south of Hells Gate, where New York City’s East river meets the Long Island Sound. It was during an exceptionally low slack tide (potentially affected by the closest approach to the moon during a seasonal tide [AKA Super Moon]) and the reasons for the grounding are uncertain. When the tide started rushing back in, the Eagle Service tried backing the laden barge off the shallows. The tide was running so hard against the barge that it turned the nose around – when it was grounded, it was pointed straight at Manhattan, but once it was off the bottom, it turned the nose towards Randall’s island and the tug had no control. The barge grounded a second time. From what i saw, I speculate the captain decided to bottom out a second time rather than be swept into Hog Back, although it may have just hung up on its own again. Now the craft was lying across the channel. The Coast Guard shut the East River down to boat traffic while a second boat came to assist – which is when I decided to grab my camera. I was set up in time to film the two tugboats outmaneuver the wicked spot they were in- stuck between the rocks and a hard current. It was a pretty slick bit of seamanship. And a real rarity too – groundings around New York city are few and far between.