What The Hell?
Someone(s) launched a private sub into the east River today, and the police are not amused
New York- WABC, August 3, 2007) – Several people are being questioned by police after being stopped apparently attempting to set sail off Brooklyn in a makeshift submarine-type vessel.
Police say the men were caught in the area of the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in Downtown Brooklyn, near the Queen Mary 2, just after 11 a.m. this morning
No threatening devices or materials were found on board the vessel.
The initial indication is this is not terrorism related.
Authorities say they were in a large barrel put together as a type of makeshift “submarine-type vessel,” complete with oxygen tanks.
Officers responded to the area, found the men and are questioning them. Their intent was not immediately clear.
I mean if you’re going to test out your new toy don’t do it near the Queen Mary 2, for gosh’ sake
CBS) NEW YORK A strange-looking submarine was spotted Friday near the docked Queen Mary II, and NYPD Harbor and SCUBA units arrested three people for questioning.
The vessel, with one person inside, and an inflatable boat carrying two people, were spotted near a security zone around the luxury ocean liner docked at the cruise ship terminal in Red Hook, Brooklyn.
It was not clear what the people were doing in the vessels, but police said there was no indication that the incident was related to terrorism.
The sub, piloted by a Greenpoint man, came within 100 feet of the luxury cruise liner.
How very odd.
Update: Via Lawhawk it looks like these guys were just old sub enthusiasts…and that the Coast Guard has pulled them over before.
© TOWACA Press International | Mr. Bingley | 
August 3, 2007 2:26 pm
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“…and he told me of his life. In a ye-eh-low submarine…[chorus]”
Doesn’t look like it has a loo onboard to me, either.
Who needs a loo when one has a harbor?
I do. Or I don’t go (literally)
And I’m tellin’ you, it’s either this or one a’ these.
Since when is it illegal to own a submarine? We tried to make one when I was in high school, but it didn’t work quite right. I’m glad nutballs didn’t arrest us.
It’s not illegal to own a sub, Mike, but I guess it is illegal to drift aimlessly into a restricted zone around a cruise ship or out into the channel of one of the busiest harbors in the country.
From a linked story at Lawhawk’s blog:
The Coast Guard issued two citations to Riley, 35, of Brooklyn — one for having an unsafe vessel, the other for violating a security zone. The sub came within 200 feet of the bow of the Queen Mary 2, Rorison said.
“Basically, the vessel was not safe to sail. It had no lights, no flares. It was not registered,” she said. “Instead of safety violations, this could have turned into a search and rescue.”
The last place you want to test out a newly built water craft of any sort (let alone a submarine, especially a primitive one) is in a busy harbor. I’d look at a local lake first, or some small, less busy harbor. *AND* I would be certain that no one could miss the fact that I was in the water. There are enough water borne collisions enough with proper safety lights. This was an accident waiting to happen.
So I don’t think “nutballs” arrested anyone. Rather, the police and Coast Guard arrested the nutballs. Well meaning, historically interesting nutballs, but nutballs all the same.
Yeah, you’re right. They should have been a bit smarter about where they tested it.
Yeah…my first thought was, “Why didn’t they let someone in authority know what they were doing?” And not just so they don’t freak the Coast Guard out – what happens if the thing sinks?
While I think it’s kind of cool that people build model subs and ultralight planes and stuff, I think two rules need to be in order:
1. If your butt needs to be saved (from a crash or sinking), it’s your responsibility to have someone on hand to do the saving
2. Try the thing out for the first time (and maybe for all times) in a relatively unpopulated area. You know, in case you crash and burn or something.
Good points ricki. I would like to have the people who do those stupid stunts requiring rescue to have to foot the bill for the rescue.