A Carteret Fire Department marine vessel was hit by a breaching whale on July 4 and sank within moments, forcing the crew to abandon ship in seconds. The firefighters aboard Marine Unit 2 got out safely and no injuries were reported.
The strike came around 4:30 p.m. south of the Arthur Kill at the mouth of Raritan Bay, while the boat was returning from a routine regional security detail. Officials said a breaching whale surfaced and slammed beneath the stern, leaving the vessel taking on water so fast that the crew had little time to react.
What happened next depended on fast help from nearby boaters. The Perth Amboy Fire Department Marine Unit, FMBA Local 58/258, a nearby recreational jet ski operator and another boater helped bring the firefighters aboard, and the department said every member was wearing a required, fitted personal flotation device. That gear, along with the quick response around the scene, helped the crew return safely to their families.
The damage was severe enough that officials described it as catastrophic, though they did not put a number on it. A nearby recreation boat reported seeing a group of whales surfacing before the fireboat went down and again afterward, but the kind of whale involved was not identified.
The Carteret Fire Department said it trains regularly for marine emergencies, yet also acknowledged that a strike like this is something no one expects. That is the unusual part of this New Jersey fireboat whale collision: a vessel built for emergencies was disabled in one, and the next question is not how the crew survived, but what will replace Marine Unit 2 on the water.
