A passenger's cellphone video captures the terrifying moments aboard a NYC Ferry that collided with a construction barge near Pier 6 in Brooklyn late Thursday night.
The video, recorded by passenger Shaw Li, shows windows cracking and shattering as the vessels went into one another near Brooklyn Bridge Park. The Coast Guard said that the captain of the ferry reported the flooding tide was pushing the ferry.
"The boat was moving forward and backward, it was scraping something. I thought maybe it was a pier, but inside the boat you can't actually see out, it's dark at that time," said Li.
He said that people on board were growing more and more anxious as the swaying and crunching glass continued.
Get Tri-state area news and weather forecasts to your inbox. Sign up for NBC New York newsletters.
"My wife was consoling someone who was much more concerned," he said, with the scared woman saying she didn't want to go into the water. "I'll be honest, there were moments where I thought: if I do have to egress, can I make it?"
The video also showed the passengers gathered around as life jackets were being distributed by crew members, just in case.
"People were obviously panicking, yelling and screaming. The crew did an excellent job getting everyone to starboard side," Li said. "When it hit, were were all annoyed, when the windows were cracking, people were riled up. I tried to calm some kids."
News
Another woman who was on board said she reached for her phone amid the chaos, texting her mom that she might lose her phone in the process, but that she'd get through the ordeal.
Officials are now trying to find the owner of the barge that was apparently struck by the ferry.
A spokesperson for NYC Ferry said "the vessel sustained minor damage while docking.. Passengers were offloaded and the vessel was take out of service. There were no reported injuries. We are reviewing the cause of the incident."
