NEW YORK: Sitting on the beach or strolling along the boardwalk, it’s hard to miss the seemingly ever-present marine craft on the water some distance off shore. Indeed, the sight is common because the Atlantic Ocean near the Delaware coast is a major route for commercial ships and pleasure boats alike.
On some days, the distance and haze make it difficult to even identify the type of boat.
But in clear weather, it is easier to see, particularly if the ship is a commercial vessel entering or leaving the Delaware Bay at Lewes. Then you might even be able to read the names on the side of the hull.
Sighted recently: Maersk Westport, a container-carrying vessel from Hong Kong; B.E. Lindholm, a U.S. dredging ship working locally; and the Nordic Hanne, a tanker from Singapore. Then again, it might be one of the ferries on a regular trip between Lewes and Cape May, New Jersey.
On a recent August morning, more than 80 ships and boats were in proximity to the Delaware coast. Some were in the ocean, others in the Delaware Bay on the way inland to ports along the Delaware River. The mix on marine radar included pleasure craft large and small, work boats for dredging and other maintenance, fishing vessels, ocean-going container and tanker ships and, on certain days, a research vessel from the University of Delaware College of Marine Studies in Lewes.
We certainly see a lot of different vessels out there from all over the world,” said Chief Petty Officer Nick Ameen of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Sector Delaware Bay.
Of course some of the marine traffic is passing by the Delaware coast en route to other destinations.
