77-foot fishing boat that sank off Jersey Shore to be salvaged this week

A 77-foot foot fishing boat that sank in nearly 50 feet of water off the Jersey Shore a year ago is expected to be salvaged this week, officials said.
Crews will work for about a week to re-float and remove the Susan Rose, which was about 3,000 feet off Point Pleasant Beach approximately a half-mile south of the Manasquan Inlet when it sank in November 2023.
A large crane barge will remain positioned over the vessel’s location as the work to remove it takes place.
The crane will remain lit at night and mariners have been notified of the operation, which will be monitored by the U.S. Coast Guard, State Police, the state Department of Environmental Protection and other county and local agencies.
Cape May County-based Northstar Marine Services, which was in charge of removing the vessel last year, is working with Fort Lauderdale, Florida company Resolve Marine this week, an Ocean County spokeswoman said.
Authorities say there’s about 100 gallons of fuel remaining the boat. The rest of the 6,000 gallons had been removed prior to it sinking.
The Susan Rose took on water unexpectedly while being towed on Nov. 19, 2023.
A tug boat was pulling the fishing boat to a shipyard in Staten Island, New York when it sank, an officials said at the time.
All the oil and gas had been removed from the Susan Rose a day earlier as crews worked to get the ship upright.
Video recorded by Shore Boats showed the vessel getting pounded by large waves and surf through the day. Crews uprighted the ship following the day’s second high tide at 11:30 p.m.
The fishing boat beached around 5 a.m. on Nov. 17 with four aboard. One crew member got off the ship on his own with Point Pleasant Beach firefighters and emergency workers helping to rescue the other three. None were badly injured.
The cause remains under investigation nearly a year later, an Ocean County spokeswoman said Tuesday.
The Susan Rose was listed as a squid fishing vessel based out of Point Judith, Rhode Island in 2022 reports related to a fisherman who fell overboard and was later found dead in Massachusetts.
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Jeff Goldman may be reached at [email protected].