Bad day at the office ...

[KOWBOY]

This is our back-hoe excavator dredge digging in Newark, NJ. It's the Dredge "New York", a barge-mounted Liebehr 966 built for digging hard rock. I was working on another project downstream with two other dredges during my stay in NY. This occurred the afternoon of 23 January ... my first day at the house on my time-off.

This video is from the Port Authority Traffic Control survellience cameras that monitor all the waterways in the area.

http://webmail.aol.com/34032/aol/en-...s=Accident.avi

This is a newsclip from a local news station.

Ship Collides With Dredging Vessel In Newark Bay - AOL Video

The Dredge did not sink. No injuries whatsoever for the 5-man crew. EXTENSIVE damage to our dredge ... estimated to be 2-3 months for repair ... plus $400k/day in lost revenue.

Ship that hit the dredge was totin' orange juice. Reckon price of orange juice just went up.

[DavidW]

Can't watch the first video. How the hell do you hit something like that?

[euclid]

LiveLeak.com - Three ships collide in Newark Bay

[M-80]

Wow! I am glad I don't work on a dredger. Looks like someone wasn't paying attention!!!

[94landcruiser]

Glad no one was hurt. Sucks being the Captain of the Orange Boat!

[KOWBOY]

Our dredge was waiting for our empty barge to come alongside with our tugboat so we could continue dredging ... just another day. The latest news we're gettin' is that now the captain of the orange-juice ship is sayin' he lost steerin'.

Don't much matter ... them Folks is gonna be payin' my company an absolute buttload of money.

Our rigs have been hit before ... just ain't never been on film.

Maybe we should change our company logo ... right now it's a bullseye.

[Clutchee]

Was the Orange Juice boat making screw drivers while floatin down the river?

[Dirty White Boy]

Wow. So, what do the workers do 'til it's back up a runnin?

[wanabecruisen]

Cool video! I like how the other tug sees what's going on and pours on the coal - not sure which way he should go. I'm guessing he circled the cargo ship and checked on your crew??? Glad they are all OK!

[KOWBOY]

The dredge crew is all still working ... some will remain with that dredge in the shipyard to help fix it and the rest were moved to other rigs.

The tug rampin' up the engines in the foreground is the second assist tug assigned to the ship ... reckon he figured he'd better do somethin' at that point.

[Domek]

Today I had a pretty bad day @ the office/Bridge, and on top of that it's my son's birthday party.

One of our pedestrian customers had a massive heart attack and before he hit the ground he was dead... and you thought you had bad days at the office.

We called Mexican paramedics but when they arrived basically confirmed what we already knew(He was dead).

Man was young between 40-50 years old. Family members all were young guys & girls including wife. Wife fainted like three times. It's a pretty bad & sad picture to see them suffer for the loss of their love one.

We did everything we could but in reality there was not much to do, other then call the ambulance and call the proper Mexican authorities to come and take notice of the event that just had happened. By the way this event took about 3 hrs. from arond 11:00am til 1:30pm

... and like always my good neighbor( US Customs) wanted to know what had happened because they saw some of the Mexican Soldiers w/ rifles and some other people (Mexican detectives) w/ hand guns on the bridge.

my day started pretty good because it is my son's birthday but the fact that I saw someone die today makes it a bad day.

[66fj40x2]

JP,
That sucks man, sorry you had to deal with that, especially on your boys birthday..... Coming from the law enforcement profession I've sorta gotten numb to dead bodies and it's hard for me to imagine how it effects others. Best thing you can do is go home and hug the wife and kids and thank God your there to do that.

[KOWBOY]

Watchin' a man die is a damn rough deal JP. At least you can rest assured that any actions on your part would not have altered the results in any form or fashion.

The only questionable thing about death ... is the timing. The man died quickly in the presence of loved ones. There are certainly worse ways to go.

The natural human reaction is to share in the sorrow of the family. Reality is that this does not change the situation at hand.

You are in fact blessed on this day in that you can focus your emotions on life ... rather than death. Concentrate my friend on the glory of your child's birthday celebration and what he represents to the future of us all.

We only got us one shot at life. The most important thing you can do today is to share it with your son.

And may all those that did not survive the day ... rest in Peace.

[M-80]

Well said, Kowboy.

JP, Go give your family a big hug. And don't ever pass up a chance to say 'I love you'.

[Domek]

Thanks guys I appreciate your thoughts. hopefully this type of incidents don't happen again... and like they say "The show must go on"

Funny, this morning my boss called me to his office/hot chair to show me a full page article on the incident. He was asking me "how did the reporter got the picture" I gave him the Smart ass answer w/ a big old camera lense Sir! Ja! ja! ja!

The truth about the picture was that our Mexican Security Guard froze up on us. He got scared and frozed the moment he found out that there was a death body in front of him. He was there but he did not answer his radio. There's a slight possibility that the guy that took the pictures prolly had a gun too.

I'll tell you, can't trust them Mexicans Ja! ja! Ja!


By the way kowboy, I just got a called from US Consulate w/ good news. My US Passport was approved! how you like them apples Sir? Ja! ja! ja!

[KOWBOY]

Originally Posted by Domek

By the way kowboy, I just got a called from US Consulate w/ good news. My US Passport was approved! how you like them apples Sir? Ja! ja! ja!

That's great news JP ... now you ain't gotta swim across the river no more.

[Domek]

Never had to,never will.
Better days are coming Sir!

[valkyrie610]

Originally Posted by KOWBOY

Watchin' a man die is a damn rough deal...

Having been beside those who passed, I find comfort in the belief that death is not an ending, but a beginning.

In the military, I coped with the grisliness of SAR recoveries by finding comfort in knowing that whatever remains I could find helped give closure to the families of the heroes...

[DavidW]

THe first one is the hard and then you get over it. The children who pass are the hardest to deal with. The worst times I have had on the fire dept were when children have been killed or severly injured (usually from parents ingorance).

[Domek]

Originally Posted by DavidW

THe first one is the hard and then you get over it. The children who pass are the hardest to deal with. The worst times I have had on the fire dept were when children have been killed or severly injured (usually from parents ingorance).

that Sucks!