Sandy Hook Coast Guard Rescues Man From Oil Tanker

ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS, NJ — The Sandy Hook-based Coast Guard crew rescued a man who was having chest pains on a Liberian oil tanker in the Ambrose Channel after midnight Wednesday.

The 78-year-old man had to be medically evacuated from the tanker ship Wednesday night and was taken to Monmouth County Medical Center.

The Ambrose Channel is the only major shipping channel in and out of New York Harbor and the Port of Newark. Huge tanker ships and cruise ships use the Ambrose Channel every day. It is patrolled primarily by the U.S. Coast Guard stationed at Sandy Hook.

But it was actually the Coast Guard's New York command center that received notification at approximately 9:30 p.m. that a crewmember needed medical attention aboard the 699-foot Liberian flagged crude oil tanker Evrotas.

A conference call between the Coast Guard flight surgeon and the ship’s doctor determined that the Sandy Hook rescue crew was the best option for an evacuation. The tanker was already several miles out to sea, apparently, as the Coast Guard's 47-foot motor life boat did not get there until after midnight last night.

The Coast Guard met the tanker, transferred the man, and transported him to an ambulance waiting at Sandy Hook that took him to Monmouth Medical Center.

The man’s current medical condition is stable.

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