The widow of a trucker who died when his rig fell off a ferry crossing Long Island Sound is suing the company that operated the boat, Newsday reported recently.

Michael J. Zuber, 53, of Stratford, CT, was unconscious when pulled from the water shortly after the incident in late November of 2002, according to published reports. His tractor-trailer, bound for Orient Point, NY, rolled backward off the deck of the Susan Anne and into water 100 feet deep. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

Zuber's 1989 Western Star was the rearmost vehicle on the boat when it ripped through three heavy chains stretching across the stern and sank less than a mile off Long Island. Zuber reportedly was either ejected from the truck or managed to get out as it slid over.

He was found floating in the water shortly after the truck went over, The Hartford Courant reported. He was pulled onto an orange lifeboat that was aboard the ferry.

The Susan Anne is one of seven that transports people and vehicles between New London, CT, and Orient Point. The trip normally lasts an hour and 15 minutes.

In her lawsuit, which was filed recently in Superior Court in Bridgeport, CT, widow Gail Zuber says the ferry company’s employees were to blame because they did not put chocks behind the wheels of Zuber’s vehicle before the boat got underway.

The case is still under investigation by the Coast Guard, Stanley Mickus, spokesman for New London-based Cross Sound Ferry, said, “So we feel that it's premature and inappropriate to comment on the matter."