Tag Archives: El Jefe

State Police: ID of Boat Found in Sandy Hook Channel Confirmed

NJ State Police have confirmed that the sunken fishing boat found Wednesday morning in the area where the one named El Jefe was reported to have capsized is the same vessel.

“State Police divers confirm sunken boat is ‘El Jefe,'” a NJ State Police Twitter message said. “Presence of a body on board not confirmed. Activity suspended, will resume tomorrow.”

On Wednesday morning, when the boat was found, state police issued a statement saying it had not yet been confirmed that the trawler they found was the El Jefe.

It is believed that Captain Tom Andresen (stet), who docked his boat at the  Belford Seafood Co-op, Middletown, near the area where the incident occurred on Tuesday night, was on the boat, according to a Facebook post on the co-op’s page.

Not a member of the Belford Co-op, Andresen (stet) had been docking his boat at the Co-op inlet, according to Facebook posts.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to Captain Tom Andresen tonight,” a Tuesday night post said.  “His boat, El Jefe, is reported to have capsized off the coast of Sandy Hook this evening. Captain Tom is said to have been on board alone, and has not been located, as of yet. We pray for his safe recovery … Mr Andresen is from New York, and has recently been docking his boat here in Belford.”

 

Sunken Boat Located off Sandy Hook

As the search continued for a fishing boat that was reported to have capsized off the shore of Sandy Hook Tuesday afternoon, NJ State Police on Wednesday morning announced that a submerged vessel, not yet determined to be the same one, was found.

A search was launched Tuesday afternoon, by state police, U.S. Coast Guard, NY Police and Fire departments and local emergency response units, for the 40-foot fishing boat named El Jefe that was reported to have sank at about 4:30 p.m.

Coast Guard reported in a release that debris purportedly from the sunken vessel was found in the water Tuesday night.

The search was called off last night, due to lack of visibility and prohibitive conditions, and resumed in the morning, when a sunken boat was located in Sandy Hook Channel near the spot where the El Jefe was reported to have gone down.

The El Jefe’s captain was known as a fisherman out of the Belford Seafood Co-op in Middletown, near where the boat was found.

The statement from NJ State Police Marine Services Bureau …

The New Jersey State Police Marine Services Bureau has located a sunken vessel in the Sandy Hook Channel.

A State Police vessel, commanded by Staff Sgt. Christopher Wozniak, located a sunken vessel at 8:55 a.m.

The boat was located near buoy 14 closer to the beach, using side scan sonar. State Police T.E.A.M.S. Unit divers are on scene to further investigate.

A vessel “Jefe” was reported missing last night and is part of the State Police investigation. At this time, we cannot confirm that the sunken vessel is the missing boat.