I’d wager that more than two thousand cargo ships dock in the sixth boro each year. This morning as I write this, I count 20 in all, including the second of the 15k ULCVs, CMA CGM Panama. No, I didn’t get photos because . . . I was workbound. All these photos I took in recent weeks. The last one here I did not take; a friend Allan Seymour took it on the body of water called Penobscot Bay.
Erikoussa is a regular in the port. Click here for posts featuring this tanker going back 12 years already. Here she was departing; the taut line angling off her port bow leads to a tug rotating her across the KVK so that she points east rather than west. As of this morning, she’s in the Gulf of Mexico.
Sea Vine . . . is just the best name. Right now, she’s in Rotterdam.
Hamburg Bay may have called here before as Zim Hamburg or APL Tokyo, but I’ve no record of that. At 6350 teu, she’s of the size that I saw many of until about five years ago. Her beam–131′–would prevent her from passing through the old Panama Canal locks. She’s upbound on the Elbe now.
Speaking size . . . OOCL Singapore is one of those ULCVs that are becoming the new standard these years in the port. Launched in 2014, her teu capacity is 13200. Compare that with the newest record holder . . . CMA CGM Brazil and the 15000 teu size. She’s now off Cape Fear bound for the Mediterranean.
CMA CGM A. Lincoln, seen here a few weeks ago, blocked out the sky as she passed by. Right now she’s shuffling through the southern end of the Red Sea, Malaysia bound.
Ever Lotus . . . I caught her here the first time just over a year ago. She’s Pacific bound in the Panama Canal.
Pacific Anna, a 2017 crude oil carrier, has one of those great names, like Surfer Rosa or Surabaya Johnny, which isn’t a ship name but should be. She’s in the Atlantic, heading for Amsterdam.
Fulmar, named for the seabird, is one of the tankers that currently shuttles frequently between Point Tupper and Bayway. Right now, she’s off Port Aransas.
Tanja with Camden Hills in the background is departing Penobscot Bay. As an indicator of trade routes, as of this morning Tanja is currently at the Amazon River port of Belem.
The photo above is thanks to Allan Seymour; all others, WVD, who like these vessels, is not alive unless he’s moving.
tugster: a waterblog 
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September 24, 2020 at 1:22 pm
Bob
Tanja regularly calls at Searsport with kaolin slurry, used in paper mills to produce coated paper.
September 24, 2020 at 5:27 pm
tugster
Thx, Bob. I’d forgotten that kaolin is used in paper . . .
September 24, 2020 at 11:43 pm
Thomas Turner
Sometimes I run out to grab a shot of a ship, specifically because I like the name… especially in these days of “Diligent Efficiency” “High Performance” “Energy Challenger” type names.. Some favorites were “Mountain Blossom” “Butterfly” “Four Moon” “Orange Star” “Nor’Easter” “Galahad” “Morning Ivy” “Patagonian Mystic” “Pink Sands” “Scarlet Ibis” “Sea Venture” “Sinbad” “Herman Hesse” “Abbey Road” and “Canal Street”
September 25, 2020 at 12:24 am
George Schneider
About 10 years ago, I wrote an article in Propwash, quoting where a Korean shipbuilder had said they’d reached the maximum with a 7000-TEU container ship.
I think that was based on the container cranes of the time, so they couldn’t go higher or wider, and longer would producing too much stress.
My opinion in that article was that they’d reached their maximum anyway, because the value of containers was their rapid handling, and if a container ship began spending several days in every port, the speed advantage was lost.
I’ve been proven wrong. With new cranes that are taller and reach farther, they can build much wider ships, and now they can structurally support more length.
And what about the speed? Well, that was old-fashioned thinking. In the early days you paid a premium for container shipping to achieve speed in transit time. But now that there are essentially no break-bulk ships on liner runs, containers are the only method for all small cargoes. And I imagine the lines have methods to expedite cargoes that will pay more for speed. It looks like we’re getting back to the days where cargo ships spent many days in every port. The only difference is that the crews can no longer have a social life ashore in each place.
September 25, 2020 at 4:51 am
tugster
Apocryphal or not, there’s a story of Charles H. Duell in 1899 saying “everything’s that can be invented has been.” Well, that was surely proved wrong. Predictions are tricky.But I appreciate your thoughts. Be well, George.