Random Tugs 29

Today at play in the KVK today between the snow flurries I met Danielle M Bouchard, 150′ loa and 10,000 hp . . . the largest of the Bouchard fleet and –I believe–the highest-horsepower tug churning up the sixth boro waters as of now.  Ernie G’s flickr foto shows the size of the “pin” relative to a human.  Also there were

Alexandra . . . 118′ loa and 4000 hp, the largest along with Thomas of the Weeks Marine fleet,

Java Sea at 110′ loa and 4800 hp,

Linda Moran,  who barely escaped the conflagration, at 116′ (although she doesn’t look it) and 5100 hp,

Atlantic Coast, 104′ and 3000 hp of Dann Marine Towing.

And there was more, but an empty thermos and howling wind spoke to me.

Unrelated  . . . crime pays.  Here’s a Reuters article on the practice of paying ransom to Somali pirates.  Now when people are taken hostage, governments generally say they won’t deal with terrorists, but with respect to shipping, a different script seems to exist.  This slide show from Yahoo puts interesting faces on the story.

The Second Barbary War almost 200 years ago ended with an agreement to stop paying such ransoms.

Photos, WVD.