AmericasOperations

Second crewman’s body recovered from sunken tugboat on Hudson River

The body of a second crewman on a sunken tugboat in the Hudson River was recovered on Sunday.

The 90-foot tugboat Specialist had struck a stationary barge near the Tappan Zee Bridge on Saturday morning. It was one of three tugs moving a crane when the incident happened.

Divers from New York City police and New York State police resumed their search on Sunday morning when slack tides made it safe.

They discovered and recovered the body of 29-year-old Timothy Conklin. Poor visibility and the damaged condition of the tug made the search difficult.

The body of one of the crewmen, identified as Paul Amon (aged 63) was found on Saturday. One more, named as Harry Hernandez (aged 56) remained missing, presumed dead, as of Sunday night.

The rescue and recovery operation will become a salvage operation on Monday as authorities believe that the missing man’s body is probably on the boat.

In the meantime, an aerial and river search will continue on the chance that Mr Hernandez’s body was propelled from the vessel.

There were 21 workers on the construction barge when it was hit but none of them were injured. The barge is part of the construction of the new Tappan Zee Bridge.

Authorities say the tug boat is wedged beneath the barge that it struck, complicating divers’ access.

Donal Scully

With 28 years experience writing and editing for newspapers in the UK and Hong Kong, Donal is now based in California from where he covers the Americas for Splash as well as ensuring the site is loaded through the Western Hemisphere timezone.
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