NY Waterway Ferry Hit Dock As It Departed Belford Tuesday

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — A NY Waterway ferry hit part of the dock or pilings as it pulled out from the Belford ferry terminal in Middletown early Tuesday morning.

This happened in the 6 a.m. hour on the Molly Pitcher, said NY Waterway. The collision broke multiple windows on the boat; passengers aboard at the time reported more than 10 windows were smashed.

"Earlier this morning, a NY Waterway ferry boat departing Belford, NJ, for Manhattan experienced damage to some windows when a part of the pier’s banking system contacted the ferry," said NY Waterway in a statement. "No injuries were reported by our passengers or the boat’s crew that required medical attention. The Molly Pitcher safely completed its trip to Manhattan and is now temporarily out of service so that necessary repairs can be made."

"The safety and well-being of our passengers is always our first priority. We apologize to our Belford customers who were on board during this incident for any inconvenience or discomfort it may have caused."

This video on X, posted by a man aboard the ferry at the time, partially shows what happened. In that video, people can be heard saying "Oh my God" and "Holy s—."

"How does this happen on the 6:30. Pulling out smash like 10+ windows," another person wrote on social media. "This will be out of service for a while."

“Let me make this clear, my fellow County Commissioners and I are completely appalled by the way NY Waterway handled this morning’s incident at the Belford ferry terminal," Monmouth County Commissioner Tom Arnone said in a statement released to the media at midday Tuesday. "Equally concerning is the fact that the county learned about the incident from ferry passengers rather than directly from NY Waterway."

"As soon as the county was made aware of the situation, we immediately reached out to NY Waterway to demand answers and a full explanation of what occurred," he said.

Arnone even threatened that Monmouth County may sue NY Waterway over the incident.

"The county is taking this matter extremely seriously and is exploring all options available to us, including potential legal action, to hold NY Waterway accountable and ensure the safety of our ferry riders," said Arnone. "The safety of the residents who rely on the Belford Ferry every day is our highest priority, and the County will continue to demand answers and transparency from NY Waterway.”

NY Waterway responded:

"The county of Monmouth has expressed its concern about this incident and we are keeping them closely advised as to the corrective action we are taking."

Monmouth County and NY Waterway do not have a history of smooth sailing with each other.

The Belford-to-Manhattan ferry route is a well-used and lucrative ferry route; about 1,100 Monmouth County residents take the Belford ferry every weekday. And up until very recently, SeaStreak used to run the ferry service out of Belford.

NY Waterway launched the Belford ferries in 2002 and ran it for the next 20 years. But then, in 2022, the Monmouth County Board of Commissioners, which Arnone is the head of, made the surprise decision to switch the Belford contract to SeaStreak, NY Waterway's arch-rival.

At the time, NY Waterway said they were "stunned" they lost the contract. NY Waterway sued Monmouth County, and New Jersey's highest court ordered Monmouth County to reopen the bidding process.

It was only in August of this year that Monmouth County gave the Belford route back to NY Waterway. The county said NY Waterway provided the cheapest bid to operate the ferry from Belford.

Here are photos and a summary from NY Waterway's first day of service back at Belford, on Sept. 8: Tuesday Was First Day Of NY Waterway Back To Running Belford Ferry Service