Rik F. Van Hemmen deals in maritime devastation and his business is not limited to open ocean waters.
As a forensic engineer with Martin Ottaway, a marine consulting firm in Red Bank, Van Hemmen has investigated high-profile maritime disasters like the Exxon Valdez, the Costa Concordia and the Deepwater Horizon, but he’s also seen his share of accidents and close calls in the local river systems, including a two-boat collision on the Navesink in 2011 he said could have been avoided.
“One death is one too many for me,” Van Hemmen said.
Tragedies and near misses in our local waterways are often due to two things, high speeds and irresponsible alcohol consumption, said Van Hemmen.
When the ingredients are mixed, it’s a recipe for catastrophe.
“I think too many boats are moving too fast in the Red Bank channel, which is a no-wake zone. It’s not like operating a car. There are no uniform lanes out on the water. So if you have different vehicles traveling at different speeds, interpretations become very different. It becomes unpredictable out there.”
Van Hemmen said safe boating speeds are between zero and 7 miles per hour, which is the equivalent of traveling the speed limit on a local roadway. Traveling up to 17 miles per hour is like going 75 miles per hour on the Garden State Parkway.
“Beyond that is like traveling at speeds that those with police training would travel at. It’s for those with high levels of training, which is not easy to come by. It’s not for someone who just picked up a new toy at a boat show and wants to try it out. Thankfully we don’t have too many of those types around here,” he added.
Rumson Police Chief Scott Paterson said the Navesink and Shrewsbury rivers are patrolled by the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office, the New Jersey State Police marine unit and the Coast Guard. Sometimes local police departments are called in to assist, but most municipal police departments don’t have the resources for their own river patrols.
“If violators are brought into our public boat ramp, or if they dock at our ramp, we will certainly get involved.” Paterson said. “Operating a boat is challenging enough as it is. We urge residents not to consume any sort of alcohol while doing it. We do conduct inspections at our ramp, and we’ll continue to do so.”
Beyond the Red Bank channel, near Fair Haven, Rumson and Sea Bright, Van Hemmen said physical safety isn’t the only concern about high-speed boating. Environmental safety is also an issue.
Clean Ocean Action executive director Cindy Zipf said boaters should be mindful of the racket roaring engines make for marine life. Powerful wakes can erode living shorelines.
“We have bald eagles here. We have terrapin nesting. Soon we’ll even see dolphins popping up in our river systems as the waters warm. We need to be respectful of the wildlife that inhabits our waterways,” Zipf said.
Wakes caused by motorized watercraft can harm marine life in several ways, Zipf said.
Boat wakes can cause sediment to cloud the waters and harm oyster growth cultivations, which organizations like Clean Ocean Action and The American Littoral Society are trying to support to bring life back to the rivers.
“When you speed and crash wakes on our natural coastal habitats, it makes the water unhealthy for us and the marine life that lives here,” Zipf said.
“It can also make the waterways more shallow. A shallow waterway can undergo a sort of cooking effect from the sun. Warm polluted water is a haven for jellyfish,” Zipf added.
Despite several attempts, Middletown Township Police Department, the county sheriff’s office and the New Jersey State Police did not return our requests for an interview about river safety patrols. The Monmouth County Freeholder Board was also contacted through their spokesperson to dis- cuss the idea of legislation to better regulate the speeds on our local waterways, but could not be reached.
But Van Hemmen said stricter enforcement is something that could be considered in certain parts of the rivers.
“I’m not the first person to jump to regulation. I think education is always the way to go first. But it’s certainly worth it to have continued discussion about it. Regulation can sometimes become problematic, but there could very well be a need for stricter enforcement in the Red Bank channel. But then what do you do in the other parts of the river? It’s a complex issue,” he said.
This article was first published in the May 23-29, 2019 print edition of The Two River Times.
