Boats Collide; Victims Treated for Injuries

Two recreational boats collided Saturday afternoon in ocean waters near Long Branch, leaving at least two victims with injuries in the wake of the accident.

The United States Coast Guard’s 5th District Public Affairs Office stated that an 18 and 36-foot-long pleasure crafts were involved in an accident at about 1:15 p.m. Saturday, colliding in the Atlantic Ocean about a mile and a half south of Long Branch.

“Personnel aboard the No Surrender, a 36-foot-long pleasure craft with four people aboard, contacted Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay watchstanders informing them of the incident, and that the two people aboard an 18 foot-long pleasure craft sustained injuries,” said Petty Officer Brandyn Hill of the United States Coast Guard’s 5th District Public Affairs Office.

Passengers of the No Surrender retrieved both men aboard the 18-foot-long craft, and brought them onto the other boat. One man suffered a head injury, and the other was reportedly in shock from the accident.

The No Surrender then headed into the Shark River, where they were met and escorted to the United States Coast Guard Station located there by crews aboard a small 25-foot-long response boat and a 47-foot-long motor life boat from the station.

The two men with injuries were met by an awaiting ambulance crew, and the person with a head injury was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune.

“Personnel from the New Jersey State Police are on scene, and the cause of the accident is under investigation,” said Hill.