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32 MN October 2010 MarineNews Yearbook Passenger Vessels • by Jonathan Atkin 2010 “Securitay, Securitay — Molinari departing Whitehall bound for St. George.” Twenty-four hours a day, in NY/NJ harbor the VHF bridge-to-bridge Channel 13 crackles a non-stop symphony of thousands of “security calls.” It is a veritable orchestration by captains of the Staten Island Ferry, dozens of water taxis crossing the North River or streaking up Buttermilk channel, tug boats and barges, container ships coming ?round Bergen Point, sea-going palaces leaving three cruise ship terminals as well as dozens of passenger vessels, motor and sail, jostling for camera angles at the Statue of Liberty. The Port of NY/NJ, is the nations third largest port. Henry Mahlmann, President of Sandy Hook Pilots said recently, “We are at the top of the food chain when it comes to diversity, as this port shares its waterway with everything from kayaks to cruise and container ships over 1,000 feet on a daily basis, seamlessly.” Nearly 12,000 deep draft ship arrivals and departures in the NY/NJ region share the same waters with passenger vessel opera- tors. As ferry traffic routes, dinner boats, charter vessels of all persuasion and tug and barge transits expand, along with increased sailings by recreational vessels ranging from paddlers to mega yachts, it is no wonder the USCG Vessel Traffic Service annually handles over 408,000 vessel movements in the port. With AIS movements viewable on ones computer, the ultra high maritime traffic in NY/NJ can be easily under- stood by the mariner and non mariner alike. The busy port hosts over 700 annual marine events, according to USCG Sector NY. As if boat races, regattas, fireworks, and Artist rendering of the Hornblower Hydrogen Hybrid (H3) (Image courtesy Statue Cruises)
