From August 20, 1973 . . . it’s another narrated job from Steve. This time, MS Olympia is getting sailed. Launched in 1953 in Glasgow, she was a long-lived vessel. Any guesses when she went out of service?
“MS Olympia at 57th St Pier North R. Eugene F Moran and Maureen Moran wait on the river side of the pier.”
I gather Eugene was the 1951 Jakobson-build, the ninth and final tug by that name. Maureen worked under that name from 1971 until 2010.
“Our vantage point was “McA Bros.”
“McAllister Bros. pushing the bow of MS Olympia. ”
“MS Olympia heading for sea.” Off her port bow, you can see the tall building at Stevens Institute of Technology.
Lower Manhattan on the North River side was truly a different place in 1973. Have you guessed when this vessel went out of service? You can read her service history and see lots of photos, some even in the sixth boro, here.
One job done, on to the next for McAllister Bros. By the way, anyone know why the flag is at half mast? My search came up empty handed.
And the answer is . . . 2009. She was beached in Alang on 24 July 2009 and nothing was left a year later. Her last visit in NYC had been in 2001.
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May 31, 2020 at 12:40 pm
William Lafferty
I’ll make a wild guess and say the Olympia passed on in 2009 when it was beached at Alang on 27 July as Regal Empress, previously operated by Regal Cruises Ltd. of Nassau between, I think, Fort Lauderdale and the Bahamas. Its last role was as emergency housing at Galveston for Hurricane Ike victims in late 2008.
May 31, 2020 at 9:26 pm
Lee Rust
My parents took a Caribbean cruise on ‘Olympia’ back in 1957 that included a visit to Havana, two years before the Revolución Cubana. I’ve got some Kodachromes somewhere that show the ship and the city.