When commuters traveling between Kingston and Seattle step on the M/V Finest for the first time, they will also be setting foot on one of hundreds of vessels that took part in the largest maritime evacuation in history.
Former captain of the Finest, Richard Naruszewicz, and its crew were dropping passengers off at Pier 11 in Lower Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2001 when terrorists crashed American Airlines Flight 11 into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
Captain Naruszewicz said he saw the plane on one side of the city’s skyline, but never saw it re-appear. A deckhand said the plane hit the tower.
Captain Naruszewicz took a detour around part of the island to verify what he was hearing. What he saw was part of the North Tower glowing red hot, with a giant gash in it.
Recognizing his responsibility for safety, Captain Naruszewicz told everyone left on board they would not be continuing to their second stop.
They were going back to Pier 11.
“It was clear pandemonium,” Captain Naruszewicz recalled 17 years after the deadly attacks of Sept. 11. “People all over the place.”
As soon as the crew of the Finest lowered the ramp to Pier 11, people were scrambling on board. There’s no doubt in Captain Naruszewicz’ mind the passenger ferry was over capacity for the trip back to New Jersey. It was a similar story for the second trip back, and for the next 24-plus hours.
The Finest was only on its second trip back when the first tower fell.
“It was like one hundred sonic booms,” Captain Naruszewicz said. “It was so loud. We couldn’t get out of the dust cloud.”
The crew of the Finest were forced to shut off the ventilation as the dust cloud from the tower collapse covered the area. Captain Naruszewicz put his shirt over his nose and mouth to try a limit the amount he inhaled.
The Finest became just one of a fleet of vessels dedicated to the evacuation of the area. It became the largest maritime evacuation in history as hundreds of thousands of people were taken off the island.
Captain Naruszewicz and his crew would load passengers anywhere they could find space. He remembers seeing mothers lowering their children onto boats before ditching strollers and climbing over railings themselves.
Eventually he stopped counting how many people the crew of the Finest rescued. As the day wore on, the crew was warned they may receive injured people. Though the crew was told they could get off if they wanted, Captain Naruszewicz says nobody backed down.
Around 500,000 people were evacuated in the effort led by the Coast Guard.
The crew of the Finest is no longer together. The vessel was sold to NY Waterways, before being sold to Kitsap Transit.
Naruszewicz is now the captain of an oil tanker based out of New York Harbor. Even though he’s moved on with his life, he says he remembers the events of Sept. 11 and the aftermath like they only happened moments ago.
A grand opening of the new fast ferry was held Monday. Special ferry service is scheduled for Nov. 23. The finest begins regular service Nov. 26.
Captain Naruszewicz says, at some point, he wouldn’t mind boarding the Finest again for a trip to Seattle.
