HORROR ON THE WATER: 30-50 people hurt after ferry slams into dock in lower Manhattan

HORROR ON THE WATER: 30-50 people hurt after ferry slams into dock in lower Manhattan

JUSTIN LANE/EPA

A patient is moved by emergency personnel on a dock after a commuter boat reportedly hit a pier while docking at the South Street Seaport in New York.

A crowded New Jersey ferry crashed Wednesday when docking in lower Manhattan, injuring 57 rush hour commuters who were tossed wildly across the damaged ship.

The Seastreak ferry â€" with 343 passengers and five crew members aboard â€" slammed hard into the South St. dock’s moorings, sending riders tumbling down stairways and through glass doors.

Two victims were in critical condition with head injuries, authorities said.

“It was chaos,” said passenger Roy Marceau, 39, of Rumson, N.J. “People came crashing through the glass doors in the back. People were falling down in the aisles.”

The bruised Marceau, like most passengers, suffered minor injuries when the Seastreak Wall Street crashed at 8:43 a.m., carving a gash in the right front corner of the catamaran.

 Rider Bill McKenzie, 62, said he was chatting with a friend when all hell broke loose.

“The force of the collision threw me to the ground â€" knocked me down hard,” he said. “Blood started pouring out of my nose. ... Everyone was just in shock. No one could believe it.”

Passenger Ashley Furman said there was no sense of impending danger as the ferry pulled into the dock on a muggy winter morning â€" and then everything went topsy-turvy.

“I went flying in the air, and I woke up in a daze,” said Furman, who suffered bumps and bruises.

Witnesses on the dock said the captain was immediately screaming to security on shore to call 911 â€" perhaps because he feared the damaged ferry might sink.

“I saw the gaping hole under the hull,” said witness Jacqueline Wagner. “We thought they were going take water on. The captain was yelling, really fast: ‘Get help!’”

One witness said the sound of the ferry colliding with the dock was like an explosion.

It was unclear what caused the Atlantic Highlands to Pier 11 ferry to lurch at the end of its routine ride. But witnesses said they never heard any sound indicating the ferry was slowing down as it approached the dock.

“That’s a notable thing,” said Wegner. “I take it often, and I didn’t hear that sound.”

hustle_city_akeel via instagram

Scene from tragic ferry crash that left two people in critical condition

At least 20 injured commuters were taken to New York Downtown Hospital, with other victims taken to four other Manhattan hospitals.

The majority of patients at Downtown were treated for neck and back injuries, according to one EMT.

Seastreak has been involved in 10 incidents in or near New York City since 2007, U.S. Coast Guard records show.

The 10 incidents include two collisions in which no injuries were reported.

The most serious city crash occurred in August 2009, when a the Seastreak ferry crashed into an E. 35th St. dock, tearing a two-foot hole in the starboard bow six feet above sea level. There were no injuries and inspectors determined the helm control didn't function properly.

Then in January 2010, a Seastreak slammed into a cluster of fender pilings at a dock at the Sandy Hook bay marina in New Jersey, ripping a hole of unspecified size above the waterline. No cause was listed in Coast Guard documents.

In an August 2010 incident, a Seastreak traveling at a healthy speed of 25 knots from Martha’s Vineyard to New York City encountered heavy seas that sent two life jackets crashing through a cabin window. One passenger suffered lacerations to the head and eye, a broken nose and bruised ribs. A second was cut in forehead and required stitches.

And in January 2010, a Seastreak craft went aground on a sand bar with 50 passengers aboard en route to Pier 11. There were no injuries reported.

With Jose Kemp, Greg B. Smith and Chelsia Rose Marcius

lmcshane@nydailynews.com

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