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It was the “perfect storm” of problems.
A pair of inexperienced MTA boaters wrecked the transit authority’s 25-foot schooner Perfect Storm after choppy waters forced them to abandon ship near Coney Island.
Fearing for their lives amid unexpectedly harrowing conditions, the two workers called for a rescue team, which opted not to salvage the ship until the morning — by which time Perfect Storm had already “crashed into the rocky shoreline and capsized,” MTA Inspector General Carolyn Pokorny said Monday.
An IG investigation into the Oct. 15, 2020 incident revealed “an untenable situation on multiple levels” in which no official rules existed for the 20-year-old schooner, while its two-man crew lacked training, experience and — in one man’s case — the ability to swim.
“I cannot fathom how MTA management would allow these unqualified employees to set
sail in the first place,” Pokorny said in a statement. “Clearly this lack of oversight is ultimately responsible for turning the Perfect Storm into a total wreck.”
Pokorny’s investigation revealed that the boat’s assigned captain had only piloted the boat — or any boat — once in his life before being assigned to take the ship out on Oct. 15 to monitor repairs near Roosevelt Island and be available for search and rescue.
But neither the captain nor his first mate had search and rescue training, investigators found. The first mate was by his own admission not a strong swimmer and only on the boat because he wanted to earn overtime pay.
The unnamed captain’s supervisors claimed he’d professed significant boating experience from his childhood in Jamaica. In reality, he was unprepared for the boat’s motor to die in uneasy waters.
The motor dying preventing the captain from dropping the boat’s mechanical anchor. As the ship drifted close to the rocky shore by Kingsborough Community College, the two men abandoned ship. A tow company arrived, but due to the weather, they did not salvage the ship, which came apart overnight from banging against the rocks.
The IG’s office opted not to penalize anyone for the incident because the boat had passed through “multiple managers” over two decades, Pokorny said.
“We were at a loss as to who specifically to recommend be held accountable,” the report said. “The proverbial buck stopped with no one when it came to this boat.”
New York City Transit Authority officials opted not to replace Perfect Storm, which was the city bus and subway agency’s only watercraft.
“Thankfully, no one was injured during this incident,” MTA spokesman Michael Cortez said in a statement. “NYC Transit’s expertise is in trains, buses and paratransit vehicles, not boats. Therefore, NYC Transit has no plans to replace this boat or purchase any other boats in the future.
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