Ambrose Channel is the only shipping channel in and out of the Port of New York and New Jersey. The channel is considered to be part of Lower New York Bay and is located several miles off the coasts of Sandy Hook, New Jersey, and Breezy Point, New York. Ambrose Channel terminates at Ambrose Anchorage, just south of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, the gateway to

New York Harbor New York Harbor is at the mouth of the Hudson River where it empties into New York Bay near the East River tidal estuary, and then into the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of the United States. It is one of the largest natural harbors in t ...

, where it becomes known as the Anchorage Channel. It is named for

John Wolfe Ambrose John Wolfe Ambrose (January 10, 1838 – May 15, 1899) was an Irish-American engineer and developer. He is best known for guiding the development of sea channels within and leading into New York Harbor, ensuring New York City, New York's positio ...

, an engineer from New York. The entrance to the channel was marked by Ambrose Light which doubled as a staging area for pilot boats, most notably the Sandy Hook Pilots. Prior to the construction of the light tower in 1967 the channel was marked by the

Ambrose Lightship Lightship ''Ambrose'' was the name given to multiple lightships that served as the sentinel beacon marking Ambrose Channel, New York Harbor's main shipping channel. The first lightstation was established south of the Ambrose Channel off of Sandy ...

, one of a class of lightships operated and maintained by the United States Coast Guard for the express purpose of marking main shipping channels for major ports. After being struck by small boats on a number of occasions, the light tower was redesigned and relocated in 1999, and finally decommissioned and removed in 2008. Once inside the Narrows, Ambrose becomes the Anchorage Channel which splits into channels to marine terminals. Connecting channels are the Bay Ridge, the Red Hook, the Buttermilk, the Claremont, the Port Jersey, the

Kill Van Kull __NOTOC__ The Kill Van Kull is a tidal strait between Staten Island, New York and Bayonne, New Jersey in the United States. It is approximately long and wide and connects Newark Bay with Upper New York Bay. The Robbins Reef Light marks the ...

, the

Newark Bay Newark Bay is a tidal bay at the confluence of the Passaic and Hackensack Rivers in northeastern New Jersey. It is home to the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal, the largest container shipping facility in Port of New York and New Jersey, t ...

, the Port Newark, the Elizabeth, and the

Arthur Kill The Arthur Kill (sometimes referred to as the Staten Island Sound) is a tidal strait between Staten Island (also known as Richmond County), New York and Union and Middlesex counties, New Jersey. It is a major navigational channel of the Port of ...

. Anchorages are known as Stapleton, Bay Ridge and

Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames and opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Ro ...

References

Notes Further reading *
National Data Buoy Center
- Station ALSN6 - Ambrose Light, NY
New York Harbor Approaches
NOAA Chart 12326 online.

External links

Sandy Hook Pilots

South Street Seaport Museum
- Current location of the Ambrose Lightship Port of New York and New Jersey Bodies of water of Queens, New York Bodies of water of Monmouth County, New Jersey Shipping channels {{MonmouthCountyNJ-geo-stub

See also

References

External links