Tugs… ubiquitous and of all sizes. Operating 365 days of the year, they’re quite numerous. According to a 2005 New York Times article, about 100 operate out of Kill van Kull, the water along the northern side of Staten Island, the passageway between Upper New York Bay and Newark Bay. Like land vehicles, they need maintenance and repair. Places like Caddell‘s offer this service. And while they are worked on, we have the opportunity to see what a tug looks like out of the water.

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Here’s an unidentified tug out of the water. What’s your guess for propeller diameter? Eight feet? What would the size of the vessel be?

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Here’s another shot of the same tug without the propellers.

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Dry docks of this sort are sunk, the vessel is driven in and positioned, then the dry dock is refloated. A rising dry dock lifts all boats–up to a certain size. Whatever is “on board” goes high and dry.