FDNY crews rescue tourist adrift on 'dock' (with VIDEO)

Fire Pilots Patrol 3

(JERSEY CITY, N.J.) — A tourist from London who drifted in New York Harbor for two hours on a piece of plywood was rescued by vessels from the Fire Department of New York, NJ 101.5 reported. Armaan Munglani, 19, went to the Newport Yacht Club in Jersey City early Thursday to watch the sunrise and stepped onto the plywood, which he said looked like a dock. The plywood broke free and Munglani was pulled by the current to an area near Governor's Island. FDNY responded with its new fireboat, William M. Feehan, and another vessel to rescue Munglani, who was uninjured.

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The following is a post from FDNY's Facebook page:

“This thing shouldn’t have been on a lake, let alone in the New York Harbor. It was incredibly unstable and he’s lucky to be alive. He had ridden the current on his makeshift platform all the way from Jersey City, with the wind blowing so hard that there were whitecaps on the water. It was very choppy, and very dangerous. The harbor is busy, even at night, and he didn’t come up on the radar. This could have ended badly. We positioned our 65-foot boat, the William M. Feehan, between the wind and the waves, using it was a shield so Marine 1 could come up alongside the man without getting pushed around. They came in nice and easy, pulled him onto their boat, and let’s just say he was very excited to see us,” said Capt. Louis Guzzo, Marine 6, who, along with Marine 1, responded to a call of a man stranded on a wooden raft in the Hudson River (Thursday) morning at 4:49 a.m. Lt. Keith Nebel, Marine 1, said, “Our pilot, firefighter Dennis Kerrigan, did a great job controlling our vessel. He was able to maneuver our bow right up to the little wooden makeshift raft that the man was on. He was 19 years old, freezing cold and scared to death. He had traveled approximately two miles, and was stuck on the water for around two hours.” FDNY members from Marine 1 assessed the patient and determined that he did not require medical attention.

By Professional Mariner Staff