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"Bourne" Connection To Capsized Boat Rescue

2009_08_bourneid.jpg The Daily News has the scoop on some interesting details surrounding the rescue of passengers from a capsized boat in the Hudson River early yesterday morning. Turns out Doug Liman, director of Swingers, The Bourne Identity, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and "four movie-making pals were on his sailboat celebrating the wrap of a new film early Wednesday when they spotted the ship speeding toward a tiny vessel." A cargo ship, about "250 feet long, 50 feet tall, with no lights," was headed towards Daniel Rechelbacher's 40-foot boat. Rechelbacher and two friends jumped into the river, while another was tossed off the boat when the cargo ship crushed the vessel. Liman's boat headed to the crash, picking up Rechelbacher and two others, while the crushed boat's captain "refused to swim away from his crushed vessel and remained there until Fire Department boats arrived." Rechelbacher called his rescuers "guardian angels" while Liman said, "I make action movies for a living. If I had Jason Bourne survive that, people would start throwing popcorn at the screen .... These people were extremely lucky." And no criminality is suspected—apparently cargo ships have right of way in the river.

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Comments [rss]

  • JenChungsBaby

    A 250-foot ship with no lights? In the Hudson River? Kind of hard to believe.

  • LaLuneEstMorte

    This guy was dining in the middle of a busy shipping channel, even though it was late at night. I find it very hard to believe that a large cargo ship had no running nav lights and that it didn't sound 5 short blasts. Even so, the captain of the small boat should have been looking out instead of getting drunk with his buddies.

    Poor journalism favoring the "little guy"

  • grizzzly

    They do - they are extremely difficult to stop or turn - but they are also supposed to have running lights and be vigilant of other boats and warn them appropriately via horns and radio.

  • maevemealone

    The rule goes "the vehicle of least maneuverability has right of way". The cargo ship could be in violation if it didn't have running lights, but I'm wondering if they were just high up on the deck and not where the smaller boat could see them.

    These boaters are indeed lucky because the other general rule of boating is "you only hit a cargo ship once".

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