LI man among victims in Hudson River boat crash

The bodies of two men have been recovered and a third man remains missing after a tugboat crashed into a construction barge on the Hudson River Saturday. The body of 29-year-old Tim Conklin, of Westbury,

News 12 Staff

Mar 14, 2016, 6:52 AM

Updated 3,100 days ago

Share:

The bodies of two men have been recovered and a third man remains missing after a tugboat crashed into a construction barge on the Hudson River Saturday.
The body of 29-year-old Tim Conklin, of Westbury, was recovered Sunday morning. The body of 62-year-old Paul Amon, of New Jersey, was recovered not long after the crash early Saturday morning.
Officials say the third crew member aboard the tugboat is still missing and is presumed dead. He has been identified as Harry Hernandez, 56, of Staten Island.
Authorities say the 90-foot tugboat hit a barge north of New York City, near the Tappan Zee Bridge. The tugboat sank, leaking 5,000 gallons of fuel into the Hudson River.
Authorities said the tugboat was one of three that were pushing a barge from Albany to Jersey City, New Jersey. The tugboat hit a stationary barge that was part of the Tappan Zee Bridge construction project.
Govb. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement that 21 workers were on the bridge construction barge that was hit, but none were injured.
The boat, named the Specialist, sank in about 40 feet of water within minutes, authorities said. The water temperature in the area was about 40 degrees, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Cuomo said a team from the state Department of Environmental Conservation was on site with a private contractor and were deploying booms to contain the leaking diesel fuel. He said he did not expect any long-term damage as a result of the spill.
James Mercante, an attorney for the owner of Specialist, said the crew was licensed, competent and experienced.
"It's a shocking, horrific marine tragedy," Mercante said. "Right now the company is more concerned with the families of the crew and mourning."
A spokeswoman for Tappan Zee Constructors, a consortium of companies building the new bridge, said the company is cooperating in the investigation.
The crash occurred near the scene of a 2013 boat crash that killed a bride-to-be and her fiancé's best man. That incident, which killed Lindsey Stewart and Mark Lennon, both 30, also involved a Tappan Zee Bridge construction barge.

 
AP wire services contributed to this report.