I last used this title over three years ago, and every day since then, fuel has flowed through the harbor, as blood through healthy veins. And it will keep on doing so by an impossibly wide array of vessels. Below, yesterday afternoon the 1934-launched ship Kristin Poling pushes over 21,000 barrels of oil in the direction of the 1931-opened Bayonne Bridge. Kristin‘s destination COULD lead it through the ice-choked waters up the Hudson, captured here less than a month back by Paul Strubeck. Part of what the foto below says to me is the immense care and maintenance in keeping both these harbor icons in use.
Lucy Reinauer pushes the 2008-launched RTC 83 southbound on the Arthur Kill. Lucy was launched from Jakobson’s in Oyster Bay in 1973 and since then has borne all the following names: Texaco Diesel Chief, Star Diesel Chief, Morania No 5, May McGuirl. I’d love to see a foto of her when first launched.
Lois Ann L. Moran (2009) pushes barge Philadelphia out toward the Newark Bay portion of the sixth boro. The destination of the fuel beyond that I can only guess at.
As an indication of changes in scale over the decades, load capacity of barge Philadelphia is 118,000 barrels, relative to Kristin Poling‘s . . .21,000 and a bit.
Fuels moved through the harbor have a range of users: Vane’s Doubleskin 301 moves in to fuel container vessel NYK Delphinus even before containers start moving off the ship.
Maneuvering 301 is not a Vane tug but Dann Marine’s East Coast.
All fotos in the past 48 hours by Will Van Dorp, who is convinced that millions of dollars will go to whomever figures out how to move food and retail goods through the sixth boro to the consumer as efficiently as all our fuels already are. All fotos were taken from Arthur Kill Park in Elizabeth, NJ.
tugster: a waterblog 
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February 18, 2011 at 10:15 am
Jed
And a GREEN industry as well.
Tanker trucks will hold anywhere from 3000 to 9000 gallons of fuel. Let’s go with the middle value of 6000 gallons.
KRISTEN POLING’S 21000 barrels translates to 21000 x 33 (gallons found in a standard barrel) = 693,000 gallons / 6000 = 115.5 tanker trucks REMOVED from the roads in just ONE load of cargo. ONE
Bump it up to PHILADELPHIA’S 118,000 and yer looking at 649 trucks being removed from the process – pretty neat (especially if my math is right)
February 18, 2011 at 10:40 am
Les Sonnenmark
That’s good as long as the consumer is at the waterfront, like DS-301’s bunker fuel recipient. But how do we replace the trucks bringing fuel to homes, industrial sites and gas stations? (If Tugster and I could plug in our Priuses we would have a good answer to that.)
Speak of DS-301, I know she’s home-ported in Baltimore, Vane Brother’s HQ, but just like foreign-flag ships fly the Stars and Stripes when they visit us, couldn’t DS-301 fly a New York or New Jersey state flag in addition to the Maryland state flag? She’s making money by working in the Sixth Borough, isn’t she?
February 20, 2011 at 1:18 pm
Tom Steinruck
42 gallons in a barrel, not 33.
February 21, 2011 at 8:05 am
Jed
Even BETTER then! Thanks for the recalibration, Tom.
February 18, 2011 at 3:39 pm
Jed
Les, there are PLENTY of boats doing coastwise towing. I’ve taken product from Linden, NJ to Richmond, VA on more than one occasion Or from KMI Outerbridge to Boston. When counted as DAYS that’s a LOT of savings.
February 19, 2011 at 1:09 am
Les Sonnenmark
Jed, I see your point.
February 18, 2011 at 3:46 pm
tugster
i’ve never imagined waterborne traffic of anything would “replace” all trucks, just reduce the number. significantly wherever appropriate. but of course there will always be a place for trucks. fewer trucks and cars on highways and bridges will be a step forward for us all.
February 18, 2011 at 7:36 pm
bowsprite
I love this water-loving community.
Thank you, Will!