Three years ago I got fotos of M/V Ambassador entering the Narrows.  If this weren’t the sixth boro, I’d have some trepidation about the ladder and lines down her stern and the men in the tender along Ambassador‘s port stern area.  Pirates in the sixth boro?   Notable is that Ambassador was built on the Canadian side of  Lake Ontario.  More important for this post is the structure just forward of the house . . .   Ideas?  Remember, doubleclicking enlarges most tugster fotos.

That structure is a variation of this one.  In fact, it turns out that Ambassador and this vessel–CSL Spirit--unloading at Atlantic Salt on Staten Island both belong to the same fleet, as do–can you guess?

the Oldendorffs.  It seems I just cannot escape Alice and her networks, but I’m fine with that; affection remains.  That structure is a self-unloader, the best and fastest way to

to discharge

tens of thousands of tons of salt out of the holds and onto

the roads and streets (and sidewalks, train platforms, subway stairs . ..  . and penetrating to the inner recesses of your car’s underside and impregnating your shoes and any bags you happen to put onto a walked upon surface with slip-preventing and maybe life-saving but corrosive salt.)  Beautiful salt.

If you are reading this from southern US or from many other countries, you may never have experienced salt this way, but judging from truck traffic yesterday in and out of Atlantic Salt on Richmond Terrace, it’s bustling business.

And CSL?  Canadian Steamship Lines, tracing its history back to 1845 and currently the world’s largest fleet of dry-bulk self-unloading ships.  See wiki link here and CSL’s corporate history site here.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.

By the way, I’m told the salt piled up on Richmond Terrace here comes from northeast Ireland, County Antrim.  See this BBC story/video from the salt mines of Ireland.