The new Pilot Boat NEW YORK

In 2022, the Sandy Hook Pilot Association replaced the P/B NEW YORK, which had been in service for almost 50 years. In 2019, the SHPA acquired the former Oil Spill Response Vessel MAINE RESPONDER, and converted the vessel at Feeney Shipyard in Kingston, New York into its primary station boat.

The new P/B NEW YORK is the largest station boat in the United States at 208 feet. The P/B NEW YORK has a helicopter pad, an expanded deck house for pilot berthing that includes a pilot and crew dining area, and bridge wing extensions that have floor to ceiling windows. There is also a new boom crane to load and handle inflatable boats. Safety features include a port rescue station with a net recovery system for man overboard incidents and deck de-icing in the boarding areas.

The P/B NEW YORK also features technology upgrades including closed-circuit television cameras for port security and an upgraded communication system between the pilothouse and mess and boarding areas. The P/B NEW YORK will remain on station for up to six weeks at a time before returning to port for refueling and provisioning and will fit the Sandy Hook Pilots’ needs for a safe and seaworthy station keeping platform that has been part of their history since 1694.

In addition to welcoming its new P/B NEW YORK, the Sandy Hook Pilots retired its predecessor, also named P/B NEW YORK. A symbol of safety and heroism, the now-retired P/B NEW YORK has been a familiar sight in the Port of New York and New Jersey harbor for nearly 50 years. In the days after 9/11, the P/B NEW YORK served as a command center to communicate with vessels evacuating people from Manhattan. In 2012, the P/B NEW YORK assisted the Coast Guard and Army Corps of Engineers survey damage after Superstorm Sandy.