As I write, I’ve already solved the mystery; find the answer at the bottom of post, but speculate a little first. It has military lines and color that are faux and a space connection that is real, as real as
Martha Stewart and Bill Gates links. When it nosed its way past Howland Hook as I headed for work yesterday, I had to look. That red flag of convenience offers no ID help: it just shows Cayman Islands registration.
The name on the stern is Skat. As it it were a lurking barracuda, no other traffic moved as it lingered. Tug Yemitzis hugged the Jersey shore as it approached above. In the background below is the Staten Island side on-ramp for the Goethals Bridge. This isn’t typical traffic here.
Although it coasted alongside the container port bulkhead,
no discarded tire fenders hung over the side.
Skat, along with other meanings, refers here the private yacht of Charles Simonyi, spaceman and more.
More pix of Skat here. Might they have been hoping to load a container, locate a good fishing spot, recruit disgruntled crew, create a fog bank, fotograf tugster? I wonder.
Photos, VD.
5 comments
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May 6, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Jed
SKAT is up by Chelsea piers now, caught a gander of her on my way up to edgewater…
May 6, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Mage Bailey
Gosh…….I wonder what one good wave would do to that exoskeletin. I don’t wish to maintain that yacht either.
Thanks for the note. I took the tug shot just for you….I actually wrote the name down for you too. The Catalina has faded mightily.
May 7, 2008 at 11:32 am
Fjorder
She’s a Lurssen, built in Germany. 233 feet LOA.
May 7, 2008 at 4:02 pm
suburbanlife
This is the ugliest ship I have ever seen. it looks as if made of paper thin metal. You are right in saying it has a military look – it resembles the carapace of a Russian tank of a particular period. Having money doesn’t guarantee having taste or eye for beauty in function. G
May 8, 2008 at 5:04 am
Tim Zim
SKAT – sounds like an unfortunate name for any vessel.