Boating & Fishing

Stricken Fishing Boat Towed Off Beach, But Now Sunk Off Manasquan Inlet

by
Daniel Nee
November 20, 2023

A buoy marker and what appears to be a floating electronic positioning device are marking the location of the 77-foot Susan Rose, a commercial fishing trawler that became wedged on the sand in Point Pleasant Beach last week, now that it has sunk further offshore. A video of the scene appears above, showing the equipment, a salvage vessel and its position. (Note: some ad blocking software may interfere with the video player.)

A buoy and navigational marker floating above the wreck of the Susan Rose off Point Pleasant Beach, Nov. 20, 2023. (Photo: Shorebeat)

During an attempt to free the vessel from the sand in the early morning hours on Sunday, the boat sank in an area about 800 feet offshore in 100 feet of water. The vessel’s antennae are barely visible above the water line, though they may be slightly more exposed at low tide, and the buoy and location device are both connected to a blue tow line that is also bobbing on the surface.

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, salvage crews were able to empty the boat’s fuel tanks before the ill-fated recovery operation, avoiding a potential environmental hazard. The USCG issued a notice to mariners warning of the position of the boat, which is now located south of its original position where it became beached last week. The position of the boat so close to the entrance of Mansquan Inlet could pose a potential hazard to navigation, though it is close enough to shore that most vessels would not approach from such an angle.

Reportedly, two boats – at one point or another – had their propellers become entangled in the tow line over the past two days, however there have been no reports of any vessels colliding with the sunken trawler.

A 77-foot commercial fishing vessel runs aground in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J., Nov. 17, 2023. (Photo: Shorebeat)

A buoy and navigational marker floating above the wreck of the Susan Rose off Point Pleasant Beach, Nov. 20, 2023. (Photo: Shorebeat)

A 77-foot commercial fishing vessel runs aground in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J., Nov. 17, 2023. (Photo: Shorebeat)

A buoy and navigational marker floating above the wreck of the Susan Rose off Point Pleasant Beach, Nov. 20, 2023. (Photo: Shorebeat)

A 77-foot commercial fishing vessel runs aground in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J., Nov. 17, 2023. (Photo: Shorebeat)

A buoy and navigational marker floating above the wreck of the Susan Rose off Point Pleasant Beach, Nov. 20, 2023. (Photo: Shorebeat)

The Coast Guard has not issued any findings as to why the boat, based in Port Judith, R.I. and historically utilized as a squid trawler, missed the entrance to the inlet and became beached several city blocks below the south jetty in Point Pleasant Beach. A TowBoatUS vessel could be seen transiting Manasquan Inlet before stopping at the site Monday afternoon, though it did not appear that any major operations to raise the vessel were imminent.