Crime & Safety
Boaters Urged to Use Caution When Navigating Barnegat Inlet
Tugs and barges will be attached to north jetty for nine months
As Memorial Day weekend approaches and more boaters begin their seasons, local officials are urging those behind the helm to exercise an abundance of caution when traversing Barnegat Inlet.
Work to repair the inlet's north jetty, which was damaged during Superstorm Sandy, is underway and pieces of equipment are present in and around the inlet's main channel.
A single channel that carries boat traffic in and out of the inlet – which connects Barnegat Bay to the Atlantic Ocean – runs alongside the north jetty.
Contractor tug and barges, which arrived in April and will be operating in the inlet for the next nine months, will be anchored along the north jetty, 24 hours a day, seven days a week with nighttime illumination, said Allison Revy, Jr., Public Affairs Staff Officer for the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. During construction, the Coast Guard will enforce a Safety Zone to ensure the safety of commercial and public boaters and contractor personnel.
Boaters should monitor VHF Channel 16 for updated information on the operation, Revy said, and watch a PSA that the Coast Guard has posted to YouTube.
The jetty repairs have also closed off a section of Island Beach State Park to beach buggies this season.
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