Random Tugs 355

Happy 31st, aka Halloween, World Savings Day, Day of Seven Billion, National Candy Apple Day, Annual visit a cemetery or graveyard day . . . and more.  If you need suggestions for a graveyard, consider this one.  And just yesterday, I learned of this one and this one.  Who knew?!!?  Want to revisit a tugster ghost post?

For this post, there’s a quiz.  The first part is … name the oldest and newest boat here.  The second part … identify the only two boats here NOT built in Louisiana.  Of course, building is one thing, and designing is another.

All photos taken this October.  Susan Miller,

Miriam Moran and Pegasus,

Andrea,

Gregg McAllister,

Robert IV,

Buchanan 12,

Navigator,

Robert Burton,

Shawn Miller,

Pearl Coast,

Miss Ila,

Mary Turecamo,

and the always seasonal Kimberly Turecamo.

There you have it . . . And I’ll give the answers tomorrow.

And my question is . . .  who is Miss Ila‘s namesake and what do you call that shade of red?

Small Craft 32

The juxtaposition of small craft with the larger vessels in the sixth boro can be dramatic, like when the small fishing boat barely rises above the boot stripe on the ship.

Here’s another, where the small craft is about 1.5 teu or less.

The guy on this Sea-Doo would be minced if his Sea-Doo engine or jet stopped doo-ing.  He’s tiny beside the tug, which itself

is not that big beside the ship.

This “small” NYPD boat might be over 50′ loa but still small beside the 1200’+ of the regular ULCVs.  By the way, I’d not read this story about 52′ ex-NYPD launch No. 5 until now.  I saw No. 5 on the Hudson back a few years, and you can see it here . . .  if you scroll.

I caught this blurry pic of a harbor small craft donning its invisibility cloak a few days ago. 

That, dear readers, is a pontoon boat running from somewhere east of Norton Point across Gravesend Bay and into the Upper Bay before a storm.  A pontoon boat!!

Thank the clean waters for the schools of fish in the harbor and all these small recreational boats out to snag them.

And finally, talking small, this appears to be the new color of the line boats here handling boom along Bayonne’s KVK Riviera.  I love that high-visibility chartreuse color.  Here‘s a job ad if you’re interested.

All photos, large and small, WVD.

And thanks to Phil Little, here’s a story about a harrowing voyage from Long Island to Bermuda in a Grover 26.

I regularly read the Brooklyn Eagle, and I’m happy to share this great photo

of a young child happily asleep as the family harvests reeds on Lake Titicaca, as credited.

More Cargoes 27

Tugboats move quite the variety of materials around the boro on barges.  The brand spanking new J. Arnold Witte here moves Delaware Bay, a bucket dredge. 

Doris Moran moves containers around the boro much quicker than trucks can.

I had to throw this in  . . . a late 1950s Chevy pickup was moving a motorcycle southbound on the BQE. 

Sea Fox transported a scow with its own clamshell (I think) in the upper bay.

Helen Laraway had some rich light on her as

she came west in the East River, passing Lower Manhattan, with

some cubed metal.

The seldom seen Liberty II was bringing maintenance equipment to the Statue island, when I noticed an interesting detail.  See the blue Thrustmaster engine covers?

A closer up of that part of Liberty II shows she’s twin engine and her starboard engine is not in use. 

 

Closing it out, Durham is moving a mini scow into the Kills.

All photos, WVD.

YM Wind

YM Wind came in on a zephyr this morning from Charleston, a nippy morning though seasonal at 48 degrees.   Sorry the USACE boat photobombed this shot.

I’m not sure where Wind was before Charleston, but she’s transporting many fewer than her 14k teu. By the way, I’m starting to see more references to feu now, 40 foot equivalent units, so a 14k teu is only a 7k feu….

 

Just in time, Gregg McAllister shows up to assist Ellen and Ava with the job. I believe Patrice is there too, invisible on starboard side, dock side.

 

Wind first called here a bit over two years ago, here.

 

All photos, WVD, who thinks Wind is the best of the names for the twenty W-series of YM 14000k teu ships.

 

Random Ships 94

You want novelty?  Something new is always happening in the sixth boro, machines and people bringing goods from unimaginable places on the planet.

Full like the 2006 Palena and empty like below.   The 1998 Mississauga Express likely came in to gather up empty boxes.

Such a vessel is sometimes called a “sweeper,” sweeping out a large number of empty boxes.

Denak Voyager seems to run a shuttle of scrap between here and Turkey.  I wonder how many such runs she’s made since her launch in 1996, a quarter century ago.  Will she herself be scrapped there?

BW Kobe, a bulk carrier, was launched in 2019.

MSC Branka looks like the giant of this post at 9400 teu, but old style

yet newer MSC Giulia carries a nominal few teu more, by some accounts.

And over in Port Elizabeth, an OOCL and an Evergreen illustrate why specialized gantry cranes of a certain height are a prerequisite for transferring boxes. Today’s behemoths are OOCL Brussels from 2013 and at 13,208 teu and Ever Forward, a 2020 ship with an 11,850 teu capacity.

So i have a certain amount of time, a trove of photos, and my self-imposed daily deadline.  If you’re wondering how I decide what to post daily, I waver and follow whims.  I post these photos today because this morning I watched this video on YouTube, having noticed it while looking something else (fandango!! it was) up.  With the title “A day in the life of a container ship in middle of the ocean,” this 10-minute video should be of interest.  The title is somewhat misleading since some scenes show NYC and the ocean actually has no middle.

All photos, errors, and snarkiness, WVD.

 

Assists 13

Assisting on the stern is a recent transplant to the sixth boro.  The 2008 4000 hp and 77′ x 34′ Gregg McAllister appears to be substituted in while the newer, more powerful, and larger Capt. Brian is temporarily benched.

Notice the bit of tugboat stern to lower left on the photo above?  Assisting nearer the bow is Ava M McAllister. 

Jonathan C. has a line running up to the bow of the  MSC ship.

No line here, but James D. follows closely on the stern of a tanker.

With a lione to the stern, Kirby assists

Cosco Hope as it heads out with a destination given as Savannah.  Pick a number in Savannah and get in line.

And finally, here’s another shot of Gregg McAllister.  Note in the photo below, the eye of the line is just going up, as

crew of the ship haul it up in order to make it fast.

All photos, WVD, who wants to point out that these assists happen 24/7/365, no matter the weather, temperature, wind force, or hour.

Random Ships 93

In several hours yesterday, a diverse set of vessels came by.  I could begin with Chemical Pioneer, a 1968 vessel that’s been calling here in some form for half a century.  She first called here as a container ship, until  her big fire.

As Chemical Pioneer was assisted into a berth in Bayonne, an MSC vessel came in,

MSC Vittoria.

She was followed by a tanker, Hellespont Promise, about the same vintage as the MSC ship.

A 2012 ULCV was next, the 13k teu Cosco Hope.

 

As Hope departed, two other vessels came in, each a different sort from what has preceded in this post. 

Here Grimaldi’s 2017 Grande Torino passes Chemical Pioneer,

followed by 2014 bulk carrier Genco Weatherly, under a beautiful sky.

Two months ago, Weatherly was in Turkey, no doubt discharging scrap metal and she’s likely here to reload.

All photos, WVD, who feels fortunate to have a chance to see this variety in just a few hours sitting by the dock of the bay.

Posts focusing on the tugboats to follow.

Sixth Boro Details 11

Just photos will appear here today, and I realize I’m contradicting that statement by writing this sentence and the others.  However,  inspiration was failing me, so I decided this post should be not photo-driven, but photo-dominated.  Names are provided in the tags.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday started sunny, but then clouds moved in.

People on the Boro 31

The recent period of extended summer in the boro means crew are out, enjoying fresh air, like these guys.  I always wonder who these seafarers are, where  they are from, how seafaring has shaped their lives and families, as well as how long they’ve been at sea, both on this voyage and over the course of their lives.  Last year I saw masks, but none are here to be seen.  Are most seafarers vaccinated, I wonder.  Have they received boosters?

This crane operator is bringing the companionway aboard to be stowed

for sea, as two additional crew ensure that it seats properly and can be locked down.  When were these guys last ashore outside a port?

Similarly, as the vessel approaches the terminal crew need to deploy the companionway safely before they shift stations to the mooring lines.  Once moored, the companionway can be used without additional delay.

Forward of the breakwater, this crewman serves as eyes.  A perennial question is what a seafarer thinking of the life and people–like me–on the banks.  During the 1960s and 1970s, there were instances of crew from countries jumping ship, sometimes literally,  to defect.

Local vessels use the balmy weather for training, and

other monitoring activity.

Making up a tow is an activity performed no matter the weather, as are many other duties on the boro.

 

 

All photos, WVD, who is mindful that this period of warm, sunny fall can become icy blasts in a week or a month . . ..

 

Random Tugs 354

The sixth boro offers many vistas.  Enjoy a few, starting with Sarah D towing a deeply loaded scow past Bay Ridge. 

At sunrise, Atlantic Salvor and Patrice McAllister head in the same direction for different tasks past Stapleton Heights.

Jonathan C works shipside on the ConHook range in the sixth boro

Julie Anne heads north or so inside the VZ Bridge.  I should know what buoys are there, but . . . I don’t.

Sarah D again and here shipside in the KVK.

Mary Turecamo assists alongside a rust-flecked box ship.

Seeley pushes Weeks 250 eastbound in the Kills.

Kirby Moran, Patrice McAllister, and Gregg McAllister assist another box ship, as Marie J Turecamo heads in their direction.

Sea Fox moves a barge past Global terminal in Bayonne.

Navigator rotates clockwise away from St George and heads north.

And finally, Charles James stands by with a scow off Sunset Park.

All photos and any errors, WVD.