JR 24

Click here for an overview of Brazilian shipyards from about 18 months ago.  STX OSV in Niteroi since then has become VARD, a Fincantieri holding.  Skandi Salvador was at the VARD yard last week.  Shipbuilding–like oil & gas–are multinational concerns clustered in locations of production, like the North Sea.  The NYTimes this week had a story about a world center of petroleum expertise and innovation . . . Aberdeen.

The orange vessel to starboard of Skandi Salvador is CBO Manoella, built less than a mile away at the Alianca yard.  Can anyone identify the smaller tug made to the starboard side of the small green and white tug SM Niteroi?

Moored off the bow of Skandi Salvador is (I believe) the future Skandi Urca.

And forward of that, on the high and dry, the soon-to-be Skandi Paraty.

And between the two, it’s Skandi Angra.

Recent products of that yard–albeit under old ownership–include the following:  the 2012 Sea Brasil,

Siem Atlas (2012) and Seabulk Angra (2005),

and Skandi Amazonas (2011).  To appreciate the rollers off Copacabana–where I took this foto–notice the small fishing boat in the trough on the beach side of Amazonas‘ stern.

And finally, one more product of the same yard is A. H. Giorgio P, 2008.

Finally . . . I’m curious . .  what is the citizenship of the crews of these vessels and what are their hitches like?

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.

JR 23

I’ll start this post with the foto of Pelicano 1 below to situate it.  The location is Niteroi, more specifically Ponta D’Areia, and the Maua Jurong shipyard, founded in 1845,  marked by the bow of the tanker in the background.   You may have seen the Maua shipyard fotos in the background of this post a few weeks back.   Currently, Maua is owned by Synergy.

This post gets closer to the shipyard, but first, notice the ruined building off the bow of Far Swift–a pointed tower at each end–in the background partway up the slope and three-fouths the way to the right.  Click here for a close-up.  Its the now-abandoned mansion once owned by the former owners of the shipyard and a possible location for a possible future museum of Brazilian shipbuilding.

Starting at the opposite end of the shipyard, it’s Anita Garibaldi, under construction.

Components for another hull seems underway as well.

And moving toward the inland side of this yard, it’s Jose Alencar.

For more info on this and other shipyards in Brazil, click here and scroll through to page 31 of this pdf of a document prepared by a Norwegian gas & oil industry group called Intsok.

More Brazil shipyard fotos by Will Van Dorp soon.

JR 22

Yesterday I included fotos of some government ships in the story about the Pope on the beach.  So let’s look at more of these ships, but first . . . check out the castle to the left.

The castle comes with the unromantic name Fiscal Island, which I probably should have visited.    And the government ships above?  In the foreground is one of the five Type 209 subs in the Brazilian Navy.  To the right is Ceara and off its bow is Mattoso Maia, both formerly US-flagged.

In the foto below with masts mimicking the castle turrets are two corvettes, (l to r) Julio de Noronha and Jaceguai.

Here are some others:  offshore patrol vessel Amazonas and its sister

P121, Apa . . .  with fast patrol vessel Albacora closer inshore,

another shot of Apa with fast patrol boat Dourado, 

multipurpose frigate Niteroi, 

auxiliary ship Aspirante Nascimento and sister

Guarda Marinha Brito,

oceanographic research vessel Cruzeiro do Sul,

H 40 Antares,

lights/aids to navigation vessel Amorim do Valle (between the sloop and the fracking boat),

H 20 Comandante Manhaes,

type 22 frigate Greenhalgh,

and last  . . .  salvage tug Tridente, Manaus-built.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp, who’s first full day back in NYC from Rio de Janeiro (aka JR) has not yet re-acquainted him with its sixth boro.

JR 21

I am back in NYC, safe and sound, and just read this article in the NYTimes about three million people on Copacabana today for today’s last mass by Papa Francisco, as he is referred to in Brasil.  And how do three million people get to the beach?  They march.  I took this unsatisfying foto from the bus yesterday afternoon on the way to the airport.  But now imagine this group with green tshirts, yellow backpacks, and national flags–and they snake around the bay here– filling a major avenue for at least eight miles . . ..

. . . here emerging from one of the tunnels leading to the beach.

Back a week and a half ago, this is how the main stage looked, and

here–taken yesterday–Copacabana with each of the white triangles in the distance . . . a booth for folks staffing the large screens projecting the proceedings.  The main stage here is the cluster of white triangles to then right of the tallest building on the beach.  Click here for a Rio Times article with foto showing this same beach last night.  But . . .

here’s what was offshore.

More on these Brazilian naval vessels in a future post.

More Brazilian posts still to come . . . at least through the end of July.

JR 20

With the imminent (I think) arrival in the sixth boro of a large shearleg crane for the Tappan Zee project, here’s a chance to look at one of these floating cranes.  I believe the crane known as Left Coast Lifter has a lift capacity of just under 2000 tons.   This one–Pelicano 1 (ex-Kaisei) has capacity over 2000 tons.  I’ve not found much info about Kaisei.

The largest floating crane I’ve seen prior to this is Donjon’s Chesapeake 1000, which lifted segments of WTC antenna from barge to land back a half year ago.

Here’s Pelicano 1‘s tender.

Since a floating shearleg crane doesn’t rotate on a frame, it uses thrusters like these to position a lift.

The first time I had an opportunity to look at a Thrustmaster was here.

For an image of a US battleship converted to a floating crane about a century ago, click here.

More as soon as I can.

JR 19

Niteroi water’s edge is to Rio as Richmond Terrace is to New York.   Here, l to r . . . C Brilhante and Cape Cumbria.

Further up the cove, it’s CNL Ametista and Eridanus.

And finally . . . a larger set, some Trans Ship tugs like Abusado,

Soberano,

(my favorite) Poderoso,

and Assanhado.

And then there’s always the one that gets away, the foto I wish I could redo from multiple angles . . . the anti-pollution vessel Eco-Apolo.  More somewhere soon . . .

JR 18

I’m back from hiking in the national park portion of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, my stay here winding down.

But first . . .  it’s a Petrobras residence vessel Aquarius Brazil, formerly a Selville-built RORO.

Fuel barge Icarai pushed by tug O Outro (?) passing stern of Aquarius Brasil.

Another view of Aquarius Brasil as seen beyond the bow of Itabuna

I’ve no info on this small container vessel.

Two LNG vessels at the Petrobras regasification terminal in the Bay.  The nearer vessel–Sonangol Sambizanga is offloading a memorable cargo.  Farther vessel is Exquisite.

And here’s where I’ve been the past few days.  Temperature upper 40s F.   Guanabara Bay is on the other side of that mountain.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.

JR 17

More from the Bay, starting with  Sigma, as seen from starboard and 

stern.

Blue Shark looks like sister of Blue Marlin.

The bows of F. D. Honorable, A. H. Liguria,  Seabulk Brasil, and a smidgeon of Carline Tide . . . .

Behold Maraba I and

Blue Angel.

GSO Marechal Rondon . . . .  I need to digress here, as you may be glazing over with profile and name after profile and name.  Marechal Rondon, however, is a significant figure in Brazil-US history, as he was the counterpart to Teddy Roosevelt during the then ex-President’s 1913-14 expedition into the Amazon, a trip that almost killed the Roosevelt.

small to large here . . . Cidade Nova Lima and Dundee.  And the final ones are

Far Sampson,

Jean Charcot and Mar Limpo V

Amy Chouest and smaller unidentified tug.

and finally . .  a north American style tugboat . . .

More soon . . . from Will Van Dorp.

JR 16

Let’s travel farther into the interior of the watery reaches of what used to be called Ria de Janeiro to see close-ups of

secrets inland from the Rio-Niteroi Bridge, to borrow from the name of this small fishing boat.

Starting from the stern of the classic almost-40 year-old  Teknik Perdana and looking at

Geonisio Barroso,

Sea Brasil, 

Far Strider, 

Sealion Amazonia and Siem Atlas,

Haroldo Ramos,

and my almost-namesake

dredger “Willem van Oranje.”

More soon from Will Van Dorp.

JR 15

If the sun had set a half hour later or if the moon had risen earlier . . . .  if my camera platform had unlimited reach . . .  this’d be a better foto.  No matter . . . LNG tanker Excelsior heads out yesterday evening for the north Atlantic.   Note the pilot boat.

Other ships seen recently include Hansa Rendsburg, 

Note the pilots and kayakers in some of these.

Chacabuco and Navion Bergen,

HHL Volga,

Cap Isabel, 

Berlin Trader, 

. . .  and here’s where the pilots berth.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp, who likes Cesar Neves’ diario portuario‘s photostream.