Turning the Bridge

She’s not pink or blue or green or new, but she’s an ULCV that I saw back out of Bayonne yesterday, and I can imagine all the communications and applications of power to make this happen.

JRT yanked eased under power stern wise, while Mary Turecamo 

and Jonathan C countered that movement just enough to maintain control.

Once far enough out of the docks area, the vectors shifted,

 

and, I’d wager, added bow thruster force to rotate to port,

revealing to me a fourth tugboat–Margaret–that’d been working the obscured side until now.  Seeing three tugs and 15,000 hp arrayed on the bow is a reminder of the days when many tugs would make docking a form of choreography.

 

It was yesterday’s sunny low humidity, but the colors rivaled foliage up in the valleys at peak!  And never have I seen so many figures up on a bridge wing!  I count at least five folks up there.

 

When Monaco Bridge has been pointed safely toward the VZ Bridge, the docking pilot–I presume–departs and

 

 

the ULCV heads for the next port . . . Norfolk in this case.

Using gCaptain’s figure of 48,000 bananas for one 20′ container, Monaco Bridge could carry over 667 million bananas .. . or two bananas for every person living in the country!

All photos by Will Van Dorp, who points out that ONE Ibis is currently at the Global Terminal.

More info on Monaco Bridge:  she was launched in 2018 by Imabari Shipyard in Japan. Her 11 cylinder engine generates 65,576 hp at 76 rpm.   See photo of the shipyard here.