. . . and Cape Town

Any guesses what’s driving the tempest here?

gCaptain posted a great story about a pizza delivery . . . and a bone for the the ship’s dog Alley.  What’s this then?  What resolve will Alley summon among its crew?

The crowd awaits, as

Smit Amandla stretches the line nearly to the breaking point for two straight hours.  Imagine the fuel bill for 16,000 hp chrning at load for 120 minutes!  More on Smit Amandla here.   And here.  Her sister ship, Wolraad Woltemade was broken up at Alang just two years ago.  See a foto of her awaiting her fate here.

But inch by inch, and without incident,

the trawler makes for deeper water.

Might the hero here really be Alley?

Once roused from its slumber on Clifton Beach and safely afloat, Eihatsu Maru takes a stroll into the harbor with Ocean Pride.

And as a treat, let’s have a look to see who else is in port today?

Over there, anchored beside  Smit Amandla  . . . this orange vessel . . . no it just can’t be . . . Super Servant 3?!@#@!??    Dockwise is everywhere these days, it seems.

Many many thanks to Colin, who put all his more productive impulses on hold in order to snap these shots and share the story.    Bravo to the towing team, the pizza delivery guys, the crew, and  . . . of course . . . Alley, ship’s mutt.

Time for some of that pizza and tea, Colin?

And two posts in one day . . . I’m not going to make that a rule, but this news couldn’t wait.

Narragansett Bay 3

Of course, here’s another approach to lifting smaller boats onto a transport deck.  All fotos here are compliments of Rod Smith, about 10 days ago.  Rod operates Narragansett Bay Shipping, where I know him best for his tireless documentation of vessel construction at Senesco Marine.  (Doubleclick enlarges.)

It starts here, as Ocean Freedom enters the Bay, passing Castle Hill Light, Saturday, May 5, 0740.   Ocean Freedom works for Intermarine.

And here’s the cargo.  A recent Workboat article discusses the deal:  four new Army ferries bound for the Marshall Islands, specifically for the Reagan Test site.  The builder is Blount Boats, which I did posts about here and here.

Sunday, May 6, 1313h.

Sunday 1436h.  Note the diver in the water directly below the port prop and rudder.

Sunday 1448h.

Monday, May 7, 1035h.  In the foreground is Conanicut Island;  Newport is in the distance.

Monday 1038h

Monday 1039h.

x

All of which answers a question:  given my recent obsession with the Panama Canal, I was wondering if Ocean Freedom carrying possibly the latest government boats might cross paths there with a US government boats on its last voyage.  The vessel is USS Glacier, and it is in tow by Rhea and the company that recently towed the Artship (also with South Pacific connections)  to the scrappers.  .  . but according to marinetraffic, as Ocean Freedom heads into the Pacific, Rhea and Glacier are following Baja California.

Many thanks to Rod Smith for the fotos and to David Hindin for the info on Rhea and USS Glacier.