The Good Samaritan Captain Beni Nedrick
Captain Beni Nedrick is a New York Harbor School graduate, he was born and raised in East Flatbush Brooklyn. His parents were originally from Jamaica and moved to the United States before he was born. He is a first generation U.S citizen in his family of 6 other siblings with him being the youngest. He also had some hobbies like art and fashion he was enrolled in Aquaculture Career and Technical Education program. He fell in love with the water working with his CTE teacher and founder of the Billion Oyster Project Pete Malinowski. In his Junior year at Harbor School at the tender age of 17 he got a job on the governors island ferry as a deckhand, this was his first maritime job and he wanted to absorb as much knowledge he could.
When he worked on the deck he learned different skills, different drills like man overboard and fire drills became second nature. The New York Harbor School, a career and technical education (CTE) school is more of a hands-on experience, teaching students new skill sets that can help you down the road with maritime careers and have a basic understanding of maritime culture. Caption Beni used Harbor School as a stepping stone to become a deckhand at New York Water Taxi building his expertise and skills in line handling. At 21 he applied for a captains license and started his career at NYC ferry as a 100 ton captain, taking passengers throughout the harbor. Throughout his career Captain Beni became better at maneuvering twin-screw vessels which is important with New York City busy water traffic ranging from small sailboats to large cruise ships.
Later in his career worked for Barton and Gray (Barton and gray). a luxury mariners club based out of NYC but had a network of boat locations throughout the north and south east. During the time he worked at Barton and Gray he was able to acquire a service award. On Aug. 20 he rescued 8 passengers (Boat fire) from a boat that went up in flames in the Hudson River. He said that “the first thing that came to mind in the midst of the situation was if there was anything I could do to help. I immediately thought of myself being in that situation and sprung into action. It’s good practice for mariners worldwide to help each other in moments of distress”. His experience and muscle memory from the other jobs help him make the right decisions and to avoid being in harm's way. The hardest challenge he faced throughout the entire rescue was to maintain control of the entire situation by himself, quick thinking and assertive communication helped the situation to come to an end safely. 25 minutes later that boat sank to the bottom of the Hudson River.
In the interview he said “Some issues I’ve had working in the Maritime industry is working towards getting the certificates that you need to advance. Sometimes it’s challenging to work and try to study for a license upgrade or endorsement. All and all it’s an industry with a lot of opportunity, with proper licensing and training the possibilities are endless”. Captain Beni Nedrick is a prominent mariner and hero for many people and we are all appreciative of him as a maritime worker, saving lives even if it wasn't his job to.
We are both vessel ops students at New York Harbor School and we interview Captain Beni Nedrick to learn more about his story on the water. His story came to a surprise to us because he chose aquaculture as his CTE but did not find his passion so he decided to go into the boating industry. And found something he really enjoyed. And Excelled at what he landed him multiple jobs Leading him to become a captain and saving 8 people in a boat fire.
Thomas W. & Max M, Vessel Ops Sophmore 2024