A tractor-trailer rolled off the back of a ferry on its way to Long Island yesterday morning, dragging a married father of three into the murky water with it as horrified passengers helplessly looked on, authorities said.
The body of 53-year-old truck driver Michael Zuber of Stratford, Conn., was found floating face down and pulled from the relatively calm seas about 15 minutes after the bizarre incident occurred off Orient Point in Southold around 10 a.m., police and Coast Guard officials said.
“It was a normal ferry passage, and when they were less than a mile from the pier, the truck somehow rolled off the back of the ferry,” said Coast Guard spokesman Chief Warrant Officer Steve Sapp. “It’s just a sad tragedy.”
It was not immediately clear why Zuber was in his parked 1989 Western Star truck at the rear of the nearly empty ferry before the vessel docked, or why the vehicle suddenly rolled into the 100-foot- deep waters at the end of the just over one-hour trip from New London, Conn.
One grief-stricken friend of Zuber’s last night told The Post that the ferry ride was a familiar, daily routine for the truck driver, who was married with three children.
His family “is devastated,” said the woman, a neighbor who answered the phone at their home, choking back tears.
“He was a great guy, a wonderful guy, and we’re going to miss him. We’re totally in shock.”
Authorities yesterday were still talking to passengers who watched the horror unfold, another Coast Guard official said. There were about 50 people, plus a half-dozen crew members, on board the large, posh boat operated by Cross Sound Ferry.
Ferry spokesman Shawn Beqaj said passengers are not allowed to remain in their vehicles during trips, although the victim “could have gone down to prepare to leave.”
He said all the ferries have the same safeguards, “which is basically a chain [across the stern], and the vehicle’s parking brake is supposed to be on.”
“The person is supposed to get out, so obviously something went wrong somewhere,” Beqaj told The Post. “We have no idea at this point what happened.”
Authorities were expected to send dive teams down to examine the sunken vehicle as part of the investigation.
Officials originally thought another person was missing in the incident, but later – after a five-hour search involving several boats, a helicopter and a small plane – discovered the confusion stemmed from a discrepancy between a head count and ticket sales that morning.
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