Ferry Stuck in Bay Thursday Morning

Waterborne commuting out of the was stalled for a couple of hours this morning when the , the Bravest, was grounded.

The ferry was seen stuck in the channel area near the Port Monmouth waterfront at about 7:30 a.m. when a Coastline Bay Star tug boat arrived to tow it out of the shallow bay area.

The ferry was freed by 9:30.

"There were no passengers onboard the boat at the time," a statement from NY Waterway said. "The boat is free and arrived in Belford at 9:25 am. The passengers who were affected by the delay in regular service rode for free today. We apologize for any inconvenience."

More than a decade ago, when the ferry service in Belford was in the planning stages, staunch opponent and engineer Robert Riker, was known for voicing his opinion that the channel was too shallow to handle the ferry traffic.

County and New York Waterway representatives maintained that Riker’s calculations were wrong. From the terminal’s opening to date there have been few such incidents. "This incident was due to an exceptionally low tide," Waterway's statement said.

Patch reader Steve Heller got some good photos of the incident. Check them out. And let us know if you or someone you know was stuck in the middle of it all in any way and what your experience was.