NEW YORK — A ferry packed with hundreds of commuters from New Jersey crashed as it was docking in Lower Manhattan on Wednesday morning, injuring several dozen passengers, emergency officials said.

The force of the crash was so strong that it sent passengers, many of whom were standing and preparing to disembark, flying into the air and crashing into one another, walls, windows and seats, according to several passenger accounts.

The cause of the accident, which occurred about 8:45 a.m. at Pier 11, at South Street and Gouverneur Lane, was not immediately clear, according to a spokesman for the New York Fire Department.

A large gash in the ferry could be seen, and passengers described a jolt as the ferry pulled into the dock.

“Basically it was 60 to zero,” said Steve Mann, 39, a passenger on the ferry, which left New Jersey at 8 a.m. “When we hit the dock everybody went flying.”

Nearly 60 people were hurt, according to emergency officials, and a number of passengers were taken off the boat on flat-boards with their heads and necks immobilized.

Janette Sadik-Khan, the New York City transportation commissioner, said two people were critically injured and nine others were being treated for serious injuries. Dozens of others suffered less-severe injuries.

Both passengers with critical injuries suffered head trauma, fire officials said.

The injured were sent to several area hospitals, including one in Brooklyn.

Sadik-Khan said the ferry was moving at a steady clip - 11-16 mph - when it hit one of two loading barges that extend from the pier. The ferry then hit a second loading dock, she said.

The vessel, which is equipped with a full-service bar, has a “service speed” of about 43 mph and can go as fast as 48 mph under the power of four main engines and four water jets.

The ferry, operated by Seastreak Ferry, provides daily service from Atlantic Highlands and Highlands in New Jersey to Lower Manhattan, and can accommodate several hundred passengers.

Charles Rowe, a spokesman for the Coast Guard, said initial reports indicated that there were 326 passengers and five crew members on the ferry.

At the time of the accident, the ferry was approaching the dock, and many people were standing, lined up and preparing to exit, which may have made it harder for them to brace at the time of impact. Passengers also reported confusion after the accident, with dozens of people scrambling to rush off the vessel. Themost severely injured were thrown down stairs, officials said. None of the passengers were thrown into the frigid water, officials said.

Brett Cebulash, 50, a passenger from Monmouth Beach, N.J., said everything had seemed normal as the boat, the Seastreak Wall Street, approached Manhattan.

“We rolled in slowly like we normally do, but it didn’t stop this time,” Cebulash said. “People were obviously shook up. And people tried to help the people who were most injured.”

New York Downtown Hospital said it was treating 21 patients who had been injured in the accident, according to a hospital spokesman. Another 12 patients, including one listed in critical condition, were being treated at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, the spokesman said.

The ferry is 140 feet long and 30 feet wide. Photos provided by passengers to local news agencies showed shattered glass and other damage aboard the boat. All of the crew members had been interviewed by Coast Guard and New York Police Department investigators and had passed Breathalyzer tests, officials said. A team from the National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation.

The ferry appears to have been involved in past docking accidents, according to Coast Guard incident reports. In August 2009, the reports show,the Seastreak Wall Street suffered a 2-foot to 3-foot tear in its starboard bow after a dock crash at East 35th Street.

And in January 2010, the ferry “hit a cluster of fender piles” at the Sandy Hook Bay Marina in Highlands, N.J., “resulting in a hole being punched through the skin of the ship,” according to a Coast Guard briefing of the episode. No one was injured in either crash.

The company issued a statement saying it was working closely with local authorities but did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

The Seastreak ferry company provides high-speed catamaran services to points in Manhattan from central New Jersey, operating a fleet of five vessels.

Four of the ferries, including the one involved in Wednesday’s crash, can carry up to 400 passengers. A smaller ferry operated by the company has a capacity of up to 149 passengers.

One of the worst ferry accidents in New York City’s history took place Oct. 15, 2003, when a Staten Island Ferry missed its dock and hit a maintenance pier at full speed, killing 11 people and injuring 70 others. A pilot, who had been incapacitated at the time of the crash, pleaded guilty to manslaughter, but investigators also faultedtraining and enforcement of safety rules.

Information for this article was contributed by Colin Moynihan of The New York Times; and by Chris Dolmetsch, Michelle Kaske, Phil Kuntz, Terrence Dopp, Jeff Plungis and Peter Blumberg of Bloomberg News.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 01/10/2013