People Movers 15

Truth be told, I don’t post many people carrier photos on this blog, and I mean no slight to crews who work them.  The very best boat handling is in order whenever passengers are aboard.  What’s remarkable is that I’ve seen all these vessels/taken these photos since Monday of this week!

Circle Line, which carries at least a million passengers a year in the sixth boro,  has a long and interesting history, an introduction to which you can read here.  Circle Line Manhattan was launched in 2008, to replace Circle Line XI.

Know this Delaware?

Periodically, the 1974 Cape May-Lewes Ferry sends its boats into the boro to have scheduled maintenance done at Caddell’s shipyard. 

Then there are the VIpeople movers.  Utopia IV first caught my attention because it was actually US-registered, which made me wonder who this patriotic owner is.  Later, I realized I’d seen this yacht before here.  It also gained some notoriety about a year ago here, although then owner, RIP, was not on board at the time.

I don’t recall seeing Norwegian Sun in the boro, but don’t take me as a reliable judge of cruise ship comings and goings.  Not even half a year ago, Sun was in Alaskan waters.

Ocean Explorer first arrived in the boro just over a year ago, as seen here.  She’s here after having spent part of the summer sailing on the Great Lakes.  Click here for near future tours on the cruise ship with the Ulstein bow.

If you’re on the sixth boro or the Hudson River today, you may see this Sea Lion, the Nat Geo Sea Lion.  She’s Seattle-registered and was launched by Nichols Brothers Boatbuilders as Great Rivers Explorer in 1982.

 

She and her sister Nat Geo Sea Bird get around;  unfortunately they can’t fit through the Erie Canal. Having said that, the Hudson River is a world-class scenic ride, and has always been. 

There’s that bossy head again….

All photos this week/any errors anytime, WVD.

Newest Hull(s) 13

I’ve used this title a dozen times before, but never have four relatively recent hulls shared sixth boro waters until now, at least not that I’m aware of.

So let’s start here with an obvious logo and a name I couldn’t quite parse, Viking

Octantis, until I realized it was named for a star visible in the Southern Hemisphere. 

From here, they head north and are expected on the Saint Lawrence by the end of April.  This is the vessel that is supposed to transform cruising in the Great Lakes, including Lake Superior, using Milwaukee as its hub for the summer months.  I can say from experience that Milwaukee could be a great city for this. Here, here and here are more Milwaukee posts previously on tugster.

I understand that Blount tried Lake Superior with their vessels years ago, but Viking will bring in a few hundred guests at a time.  Other itineraries explain the name, as they will sail under the southern skies.  As of this writing this 2022 vessel is still at the passenger terminal, unfortunately, stern to land, and I wanted to see the bow. She was delivered from the VARD Shipyard in Søvik NO in January 2022.

As of 1130 today, she  headed for sea, for Charlottetown PEI, specifically.

Another 2022 vessel arrived in the sixth boro yesterday, USCGC Clarence Sutphin WPC-1147, the 47th Sentinel-class cutter has delivered to the USCG.  After christening, WPC-1147 will head off to Bahrain.

Christening is here most likely because the namesake was a Queens native.  I thought that learning this would help me understand the origin of this major street near where I live, but it seems both street and hero  have names traced back to the old country.  The new cutter overtook the container ship under the VZ Bridge.

While we’re looking at hulls delivered in 2022, here’s another, with noticeable style-cousins already working in the boro.  I’ll let you look for the similarities in superstructure.  James K was recently delivered to Weeks, as reported here. 

She’s been hauling dredge scows the past few days, as was the case Easter morning at first light.

 

See the resemblance certainly with James E. Brown?  Rodriguez Boatbuilders needs their history site updated.

Another fairly new hull in town, possibly calling in PoNYNJ for the first time is CMA CGM Osiris.  I’ve not yet seen it, but she may depart today.

All photos, WVD.

 

Exotic Queen

I’ve usually used “exotic” for offshore windfarm-related vessels or others that are rarely-seen, because prior to five or so years ago, such vessels never called here.  In this case, cruise ships became quite scarce because of Covid, and so I counted myself fortunate to catch QM2 arriving this morning. 

The fog blocked out the familiar landmarks of the port.

JRT did the honors.  Although I didn’t stick around to see how they spun around using her pods, I suspect the single tug didn’t have a lot to do.  If I’m wrong, someone will correct me.

Way back when I also caught the ship on foggy mornings here and here.

The passengers there stand quite close together, albeit in the fresh February air.

I believe this is her second post-Covid visit.

All photos this morning, WVD.

From the Line Locker 33

Remember Solar Sal from yesterday’s post?  A sharp-eyed reader recalled having seen in in a boatyard this past June.  Question:  Where is that boatyard?  Answer follows.

Geoquip Saentis is a “regular exotic” in the sixth boro, although at a certain time that becomes an oxymoron.   But what is that irregular shape along her starboard side?

Here you see more of it on the shore beyond Joyce D. Brown.

Here’s one more shot . . . from a different angle.

Here was the roughly the same area back in July.  It’s the Military Ocean Terminal, a shoreside that’s changing quickly. 

Here from two years ago that now imploded building is to the right below.  Click here for the implosion less than two weeks ago.

Oasis of the Seas has been in town the past few days, the first cruise ship here in about a year and a half.  I’ve never notice this “wave breaker” on previous cruise ships.  It appears to be protection for the tenders.

 

Yesterday Oasis was docked opposite YM Width. 

This head-on shot shows the bulky profile of Oasis.

Getting back to Solar Sal, that photo was sent along yesterday by George Schneider, who took then photo in Berkeley, California!

All other photos, WVD.

2020 Calendar April and May

I did not forget in the beginning of April about the 2020 calendar enhancement;  there were just too any things going on! So today I both catch up, and get ahead.  And according to my accounting robot, today I post for the 4,500th time.  Champagne is spilling all over my editor’s floor, but he’s not sharing.

YM World came in last April as Anthem of the Seas was departing.  If one keeps records with the goal of tracking change, few industries have changed as profoundly as the cruise industry has in the past year, and all that in the past two months.

Truly YM World, an ULCV,is huge.  But earlier this week, MSC Anna sailed under the Golden Gate, over 100′ longer, almost 40′ wider, giving her a total teu capacity of over 19k, compared with around 14k here.  That 5000 teu difference equals the total capacity of an average container ship serving the sixth boro 10 years ago.

 

The May calendar page features James D Moran nosing up against a pink magenta wall.

Here she comes in to meet off the starboard side.

Then she matches speed

and comes alongside to drop off the docking pilot.

All photos, WVD.

 

 

Big Ones 4

A top hat tip to my eagle eyed collaborators in and around the sixth boro . . .

Here are previous “big one” posts.

See those marking on the base portion of that vertical structure behind the RV?

this is a mighty high-reaching crane base painted like a giraffe’s neck.   It’s actually a perfect paint job for these amazing lifts.

Painters in a second lift are applying the giraffe-camouflage.  I wonder where this large faux giraffe will raise its neck?  Anyone know?

Remember this surprising “cruise ship giraffe”?

And speaking of cruise ships–and more in that photo–behold from the cliffs of NJ . . .   Norwegian Encore, a brand spanking new cruise ship.  Christening will be later this month in Miami.  She has about 6000 beds.

What else I see down there is Chandra B, USCGC Campbell, and a bunker barge accompanied by Fort McHenry.

Many thanks to Tony Acabono and Phil Little for these photos.

Tale of the Tape 5

When I saw Anthem of the Seas departing the Narrows as I waited for “da world” the other day, I was aware of a possible shot . . .  juxtaposing a large cruise ship with an ULCV.  Is there a ULCV/ULCC-type abbreviation for cruise ships . . .  eg, ULPV?  But I digress.  Imagine for now how that juxtaposition would look…

Earlier the same week, I’d seen QM2 at the Brooklyn Passenger vessel . . .  so let’s throw the tapes at that.  I recall reading the QM2 funnel was designed to accommodate the NYC market, more precisely, the fit under the VZ Bridge.

I know it’s a different vantage point again, but here was YM World entering the Narrows.

And here are World and Anthem, and it surprised me how much more air draft on Anthem this shows.

So here are the lengths:  World  1200′  Anthem 1139′ and QM2  1132′

Beams  World  167′  Anthem  162′  and QM2  135′

And for air draft, I know World‘s as it came in, but for the two passenger vessels, I’ll estimate air draft from “height minus deep draft,” using published numbers.  You naval architects may take issue with that, as may others of you with specific expertise I lack.

Anthem  208′  (Is that possible?)   QM2  199′  and World  177′

I’d expected the air draft of YM World to be greater.

So here’s a question I don’t know the answer to:  how many crew work on World?  Total crew on Anthem is listed as 760 and on QM2 is 1253, for 4905 and 2695 passengers, respectively.

Here are more numbers.

 

Fram

As close as this blog has gotten to polar waters can be seen here and here.  And then there was that polar bear question that appeared here back in 2007  . . .

When I saw the vessel above northbound on the Upper Bay on Monday, I had no idea what it was.

It turns out to be one of about a dozen passenger ships operated by Hurtigruten, a cargo and ferry line since 1893 now offering cruises to the latitudes toward the Poles, North and South.

 

Another vessel named Fram–that one made of wood–was an early explorer of the polar seas.

Fram was in the sixth boro for about 24 hours before heading south.   Her port of registry is Tromso, in northern Norway.

All photos by Will Van Dorp.

 

People Movers 14

Some cruise ships look great after having sailed for many years.  For example, Artania entered the sixth boro a few weeks ago.  She was launched as Royal Princess in 1984 in Finland, 756′ x 97′ and carried around 1200 passengers with 537 crew.

The even older Stockholm still sails as well.  Rich Taylor caught it here three years ago in St Kitts.

The following day, Norwegian Escape arrived.

30 years newer, 1069′ x 136′ and with capacity of 4266 with 1733 crew.

NCL vessels have featured an evolving use of art on their hulls.  The artist for Escape was Guy Harvey.

 

The quality of the next photos is not great;  it was drizzling, this is not a good camera, and I was not expecting her to depart at 1000.  Bliss‘ tale of the tape comes in a 1082’ x 136 and about 4000 passengers.

The hull art here is from Wyland, Robert Wyland, originally a Michigander.

Bliss was doing 14kts by the time she exited the Narrows, and 24 hours after her departure for Miami, she was doing 23kts and already off Myrtle Beach!

But Justin Zizes caught the real difference between a previous NCL generation  (Gem)  and Bliss;  a tremendous difference in scale.  Gem was was launched about 10 years ago, 965′ x 125′ and 2400 passengers on 15 decks.  For a great photo showing the scale of Gem compared with a NYC Circle Line vessel, click here and scroll.

 

Many thanks to Justin for use of his photos.  All others by Will Van Dorp.

Two unrelated blog links:

Emita II is a 1953 Blount built excursion vessel long operated by MidLakes Navigation of Skaneateles, NY.  But it has recently been sold to Harbor Country Cruises in New Buffalo MI (outside of Chicago).  The sellers–the Wiles family–are delivering the boat to southern Lake Michigan and doing this blog on her journey.

GirlAtSea is a blog kept by a Romanian environmental officer aboard a cruise ship.  If you click here, you’ll see that she has recently called at the cruise terminal in Bayonne.

People Movers 8

On the river Rouge, SS Ste Claire languishes, a slightly younger sister of SS Columbia, both designed by Frank Kirby. I’m reminded in saying this that I have some updated photos of Columbia, but plan to devote an entire post to her.

City of Algonac is one of two ferries that traverse the St. Clair River between Algonac and Walpole.

Here’s the other, the Walpole Islander.  For some info on Walpole Island, click here.

Now cruising the river between Detroit and Windsor, Macassa Bay used to run out of Bull Arm Newfoundland to an oil platform.

Pearl Mist is a fairly large cruise ship on the Great Lakes.

Friendship operates out of Wyandot, as

do the Diamond Jack River Boats.

And here was a surprise … a Maumee River excursion boat Sandpiper.

All photos by Will Van Dorp.

And somewhat last-minute but important announcement, Dr. Richard Zuczek, Deputy Department Chair and Resident Historian United States Coast Guard Academy, will speak THIS Thursday–August 4 at 6 pm, aboard Nantucket Lightship, docked at the northern edge of Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 6  (BBP Pier 6).  FREE.  It’s one of many many events down at BBP.