Newest Hull in the Sixth Boro 14

As of March 1, 2022, CMA CGM Adonis was still in the shipyard, not yet delivered.  By March 31, the vessel was in Qingdao and loaded, casting off lines.  And April 29, 2022, she had a Sandy Hook pilot on board and was proceeding up the Ambrose Channel, making her first ever cargo call anywhere.

And here, as a SeaStreak fast ferry overtakes it off to port, a Moran tug is about to land a docking pilot on board for her first call.

 

It turns out that James D did the honors, not JRT, which took the stern. 

Click here to learn some of the invisible but significant technology built into Adonis to make it safer and cleaner. 

All photos, WVD, who wishes to say “welcome to the sixth boro, CMA CGM Adonis.“

 

Forward, Ever Forward

Other Evergreen F-class vessels have called in the sixth boro.  So can you be sure which one this is?

Justine McAllister had the port bow.  Again, name that ship?  I could just be pulling your leg with that title.

 

Yup, this is the now much-maligned Ever Forward.

I too have made the same jokes about ever backward, ever sideways . . . .

But here, as she rounds a sharp turn with assistance from Justine, Ellen, and Majorie B., I have to change my tune.  No report has yet determined what caused the incident in the Chesapeake, and when that report comes out, whatever error caused the incident will lead to avoidance for next time.  Who has not erred or operated a device that hasn’t erred?

Bravo, Ever Forward for rinsing off that mud and getting back to work. Fuel up and deliver those delayed boxes.

All photos and sentiments, WVD. 

Oceania Tugs 3

Many thanks to Jan van der Doe for sending along these workboat photos from various places in the English-speaking southern hemisphere.  As of the moment, Agros, 85′ x 30′, and built in 2009 in Sibu, in Sarawak state, Malaysia, is at the dock in Cairns, AU. The shipyard in Sibu is called Rajang Maju Shipbuilding.   

I just figured out Agros is alongside Trinity Bay, a Sea Swift cargo vessel. 

Gulf Explorer is also currently in Cairns.  The 1971  82′ x 26′ tugboat was launched in Carrington, NSW, AU.  

Storm Cove, currently in Brisbane, is 95′ x 30′ and was launched from the same Carrington AU shipyard in 1971.  She was formerly also known as Shell Cove.

Monowai , currently at the dock in Picton NZ,  is 98′ x 30′ and was launched in 1973 by Oceania Marine in Whangarei NZ. Whangarei is on the north island, and Picton, the south.

Pacific Runner, shown here on the Tamar River in Tasmania, is 211′ x 49′.  She was built in 2003 by Pan United Shipping in Singapore.  She’s currently flagged China and known as Luo Tong 7002 anchored in the greater mouth of the Yangtze. 

Have any readers experience to share traveling in Singapore?  The country/city state has awakened my curiosity.

This photo was taken in New Zealand.

Swiber Torunn, shown here in New Zealand, is a 194′ x 46′ offshore supply vessel built in 2008 in Guangzhou, CH.  She currently is registered in Mexico and is sailing along the south coast of Jamaica this morning.

Taiaroa, 79′ x 36′, was built in 2014 by Damen in Gorinchem NL and currently sailing under the flag of New Zealand.    Are those sheep on the hillside?

Tarcoola, Australian flagged and 92′ x 32′, was built in 2004 by the Batam Indonesia shipyard Nanindah Mutiara in the Riau Islands, right across the Singapore Strait from Singapore.  

Here Tarcoola is working in tandem with Wajarri, a twin. Both currently work out of Cairns.

 

 

Warrender, 220′ x 46′, actually might be called Toll Warrender and previously known as Riverside Cloud and Gulf Cloud, was built in Auckland NZ, 1995. As of this writing, she’s in Cairns, having just completed a cargo run from the northern tip of Cape York, AU.  Anyone ever been there?  I’d love to hear from you if you have. 

All photos come thanks to Jan van der Doe.

Given my inquiry about Singapore and Cape York, you might correctly surmise that spring has me suffering from wanderlust. I’m actually departing soon on a gallivant . . ..  Robots may or may not continue to post while I’m away.  Let’s see how reliable robots are.  Loyal!?  What’s that to a robot?

 

New Hulls, Lines, and Liveries

Flux.  “Everything changes and nothing remains still; and you cannot step twice into the same stream.”  Heraclitus said that, or maybe he did not, but I’ve attributed it to him before.

Click here for the 1966 Charles Burton and the 2010 Charles Burton.  Above and below, that is the one from 2010, but the missing “V” in the nick in the green band suggests a livery change soon.

Over on the KVK, I first thought I was seeing one specialized barge, but

a closer look shows that CMT is getting not just new tugs but also new barges, CMT Y Not 5 and 17.  I hear tell there are more new ones also.

The ship is not new:  Polar Colombia dates from 2017.

But with Polar Colombia and Polar Peru both calling in the sixth boro in the same week,

I read that as a new line or at least new Hamburg-Sud names on their North-South trade?  Polar Colombia has already departed the sixth boro, called and reloaded in Costa Rica, and is heading back north!

Zhong Gu Shan Dong appears to be a new direction.  The ship dates from 2007 and it’s small . . . only 3400 teu, but it is registered in China.

Maybe a Chinese-reading person can translate both the vessel name and the characters on the hull?

But some of the containers are interesting, with Zhong Gu Logistics (upper left corner of the green containers) being something I’ve not noticed before.

Even more interesting to me, nerd of nerds, is what’s on the brightest orange containers . . ..

Alibaba.com!!  I know they are huge, but do they have their own shipping containers now?  Here’s more on Jack Ma‘s  Alibaba Group, including the name origin story, which I’ll quote below.

All photos recently, WVD, who’s always seeking novelty.

Here’s that story:  “One day I was in San Francisco in a coffee shop, and I was thinking Alibaba is a good name. And then a waitress came, and I said do you know about Alibaba? And she said yes. I said what do you know about Alibaba, and she said ‘Open Sesame.’ And I said yes, this is the name! Then I went onto the street and found 30 people and asked them, ‘Do you know Alilbaba’? People from India, people from Germany, people from Tokyo and China… They all knew about Alibaba. Alibaba — open sesame. Alibaba — 40 thieves. Alibaba is not a thief. Alibaba is a kind, smart business person, and he helped the village. So…easy to spell, and global know. Alibaba opens sesame for small- to medium-sized companies. We also registered the name AliMama, in case someone wants to marry us…”  quoted from here.

Something Different 69

I had a different post prepared and queued up for today, but then I watched one of the most recent episodes of Sal Mercogliano’s  “What the Ship…” and saw a 37-minute interview Sal did with Madeleine Wolczko, a US merchant mariner currently stuck in a shipyard in Shanghai.  That remarkable interview led me to an even more remarkable 31-minute documentary that I’ve linked to the image below.  Click on the image and the video will play.

Take it from me, watching these two videos will be the most impression-making 68 minutes you spend today, maybe this whole week.  I’d suggest watching the interview first and the documentary second.  If you’ve never been aboard a container ship, and this is a US-flagged one, this will give you a sense of who works on a ship, what spaces on a ship look like, what crew do, and in this instance, what they can be subjected to.  Technical quality may not be Academy-award standard, but the the rawness, sincerity, and power make up for that.  I give it the winner of the Tugster Academy Award in the category of “best short documentary made while facing adversity,”  clap please but no slapping.

Sal’s interview ends with the mariner performing a moving rendition of Radiohead’s “Creep” in the silent hold of a US container ship.  The hold is cavernous, dramatically lit, and silent because all work has ceased because of an extreme response to the most recent Covid outbreak in Shanghai.

If you choose, click the “thumbs up” on “Restricted to Ship, Ep. 1 – Shanghai Lockdown.” 

 

Spring Giddiness 4

They say the devil is in the details, but so are the delights.  I often take photos without knowing what delightful details I will uncover.  Like the photo below . . .  what caught my attention was that it was the first ketch I’d seen in the boro in 2022.

When I looked closer, I saw it flew a French flag.  Unfortunately, I can’t make out the vessel name below; maybe you can.

Lion’s Paw looks to be a non-winter boat as well.  

Aluminum hull and red flag caught me here, and no, I don’t mean the tugboat, which is obviously Frances. 

Is this “flag” called a “red duster”?

I saw the name on AIS, but have forgotten it;  it started with an A and had an X, I recall.  I do know that it’s a Boreal 47 though. 

And on this gusty day last week, she appeared to share the wind with a local sail school boat, I believe. 

I’d taken the next photos earlier and couldn’t quite figure out why the tug–clearly Pelham–-and the party boat were so close together.  My first thought was that Pelham was towing a party boat that had possibly broken down. However, there was no tow line.  

Later I thought these folks clustered on the bow of the party boat hardly looked like they were going fishing!

Have you figured it out?

Look closely at Pelham.

Nope!  That does not say Pelham.  I imagine I’m a good reader, given how much of it I do, but because I recognized the profile as that of Pelham, I never bothered to read the name boards, which clearly say . . .  Katrina.  It took me two and a half weeks to notice that.  OK, I know that spring gives everyone giddiness, but let’s settle down here.  My conclusion now is that Sound Bound Star was the camera crew boat and Pelham/Katrina, the talent.  Anyone know the project, the movie?

All photos, WVD, who’s likely to get even more giddy along with the rising temperatures. 

Other Peoples Photos 99

I could call this “from the Astorian cliffs high above the East River near Hell Gate” . . . photos by Pete Ludlow.

Remember this post from January . . . ?

Here are shots from the starboard side, and with all those tanks, I’d say this confirms that that is a hyperbaric chamber getting moved by Osprey. 

How about this one . . . do you recognize the lines of Bridgeport, the Gateway tug?  Or maybe Dragon Lady?

She’s now a Mohawk Northeast Inc boat although still called Bridgeport. The fleet livery you may recall from Swift in these classic Bernie Ente photos from far too long ago . . . .  You are missed, Bernie. 

This boat I’ve not seen before, although this photo is from about a month ago.  Know the buff and green colors?

It’s Stasinos Marine’s Capt. Joseph E. Pearce, the 150′ offshore supply ship, here westbound on the East (River) Strait.

Many thanks to Pete for use of these photos, showing a new angle on the sixth boro, along with fabulous perspective on the cliffs of Manhattan…

Random Ships 98

They come, they go . . . and we never get to know more than the names, unless something unusual happens, as was the case with Ever Forward.  More on that at the end of this post.  Some names are intriguing, like CMA CGM Osiris, likely among the newest cargo ships calling in the sixth boro, part of the CMA CGM Zephyr class. 

 

Chipolbrok–the name– made no sense until I looked up its origins.  The agreement has been around longer than I have!!

Bulk carriers have the best names . . .  like Common Luck. 

Maersk Vilnius is a regular in the boro, last posted here in January. 

So is MSC Tomoko, although I’ve not posted any photos of her before. 

Fairchem Copper has never appeared here before, although sister Fairfield tankers have. 

Ortolon . . . that’s a word origin I never suspected!  Making sense of Ortolon Coco, that defeats me.  

Ice Fighter . . .  I saw this and immediately thought of Ice Babe Base of many years ago.

I started with a CMA CGM Zephyr, so it’s a good place to end . . .  and they crossed paths in the boro:  Osiris, meet Apollon.

 

All photos, WVD.

Here’s the story I alluded to earlier:  a graphic novelist —Jordan Crane–had his latest book printed overseas and it–along with other new books–was traveling back to the US aboard Ever Forward.  Crane also had a book tour planned, where he would distribute copies of the new book.  Well, Ever Forward messed up those plans!  Long term though, this delay revealed this story, and that may just boost his sales, like a double-printed postage stamp or doubly-struck coin. Well, if I were Crane, I would play up this angle.  And Ever Forward, it appears she’s back in Baltimore.  I’ll bet the pilot and crew will be very nervous around the Craighill Channel. 

 

Random Tugs 371

Dace lighters STI Excel.

 

Neptune comes into town again.

Buchanan 12 makes a rare appearance light, but everyone needs to refuel periodically.

Janet D follows Seeley into the Kills.

How a bout a four’fer . . .   counter:  Marjorie, Kristin Poling, Nicholas, and Jordan Rose.

Sea Lion heads eastbound.

B. Franklin travels west, and

Discovery Coast, east. .  .  both light.

Nathan G moves a deep scow into the Kills with Cape Wrath lurking in the background. 

Traffic never stops, and it’ll outlast me, the photographer, WVD.

 

Last of the Bouchards

I’m not going to get into the swamp here, and I’m not inviting you too either, but the dispersal of the Bouchard fleet had many tragic subplots and components. Obviously some people have been able to turn these events into gain, and more power to them.

See the two rusty barges facing the camera here?  Those are B. No. 242 and B. No. 210.  Also,

notice the color of the tug on the 242.  They might be Morton S. Bouchard IV, the last of the fleet tugboats to have stayed over near Stapleton until fairly recently.  On the 210, I believe that’s Anna Rose.

So yesterday i was sitting chatting with a friend over at St. George and this barge appeared.  “What old ship is that?” she asked.  She takes no notice of water traffic, either on the sixth boro or anywhere else. But I knew the answer immediately. 

B. No. 260 was likely being moved out of its long-term storage near Stapleton and likely to the shipyard for deferred maintenance and much-needed paint.

Nicholas and Liz Vinik were doing the move. 

 

The next time my friend or I see that barge, it might be looking much better.

All photos, yesterday, WVD.