Divers recovered a second crew member's body a day after a Hudson River crash that sank a tugboat and sent three crew members into the water.
The body of Timothy Conklin, 29, of Westbury, was found aboard the tugboat, which sank Saturday in about 40 feet of water near the site where a new Tappan Zee Bridge is being built, officials said. Crew member Paul Amon, 62, of Bayville, New Jersey, was pulled from the water shortly after the crash but could not be saved.
A third crew member, Harry Hernandez, 56, of Staten Island, remains missing, officials said.
Hernandez was presumed dead after the 90-foot tugboat, named Specialist, hit a barge around 5:20 a.m. Saturday and sank, spilling about 5,000 gallons of fuel into the water north of New York City.
Divers late Sunday stopped searching for Hernandez inside a sunken vessel.
"It has moved from a rescue and recovery operation to a salvage operation,'' said Westchester County Police spokesman Kieran O'Leary.
Divers ceased their search because they were not able to access a section of the tugboat where they believe his body is located due to severe damage, he said.
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During Saturday afternoon's search, Gov. Andrew Cuomo sounded a stark note.
"Sometimes people go to work and they don't come home," he said.
Numerous agencies searched the waters near the construction of a new Tappan Zee Bridge including the U.S. Coast Guard and New York State Police.
Cuomo said he spoke to Conklin's family on Saturday.
"This is a 29-year-old who had his whole life ahead of him. He was supposed to come home but was working a few more days because the company asked him to, and now it's doubtful he'll come home at all," Cuomo said.
State Police divers began searching for the missing men about 12 hours after the crash. Earlier Saturday, they used sonar equipment to determine the exact location of the sunken tug to assess whether it was safe to send searchers in. The sunken tug is wedged directly underneath the barge it struck, authorities believe.
Authorities said three tugboats were pushing a barge from Albany to Jersey City, New Jersey, when one of the three — situated on the right side as it headed south — hit a stationary barge that was part of the Tappan Zee Bridge construction project.
A tugboat on the left side of the barge that was being pushed, as well as one that was pushing the barge from the rear, were not involved in the accident.
Cuomo said in a statement that 21 workers were on the bridge construction barge that was hit. Those workers were not injured.
The accident occurred near the center of the existing Tappan Zee Bridge, and the Specialist sank in about 40 feet of water within minutes, authorities said. The water temperature in the area was about 40 degrees, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Cuomo said a team from the state Department of Environmental Conservation was on site with a private contractor, and workers were deploying booms to contain the leaking diesel fuel. He said he did not expect any long-term damage as a result of the spill.
James Mercante, an attorney for the owner of Specialist, said the crew was licensed, competent and experienced.
"It's a shocking, horrific marine tragedy," Mercante said. "Right now the company is more concerned with the families of the crew and mourning."
A spokeswoman for Tappan Zee Constructors, a consortium of companies building the new bridge, said the company is cooperating in the investigation.
The crash occurred near the scene of a 2013 boat crash that killed a bride-to-be and her fiancé's best man. That incident, which killed Lindsey Stewart and Mark Lennon, both 30, also involved a Tappan Zee Bridge construction barge.
