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Let’s go back a decade. Then MSC Emma was on the west coast of Bayonne leaving town; now she’s on the west coast of Central America, leaving Lazaro Cardenas for Panama.
Above she was assisted by Gramma Lee T [now in Norfolk] and Margaret and setting up for the turn from Newark Bay into the KVK; here we had almost gotten ahead of the trio of vessels.
A strange trio was in the sky
over the sixth boro. The piggyback rider is still in town, albeit likely to never fly again. More here.
Meanwhile, over in the Arthur Kill, a boring machine was placing charges in holes below the bottom of the waterway and connecting them to the stringy orange signal cord to blast when the time was right for them all to detonate at the same millisecond. That day I touched some hefty but perfectly safe explosives, inert until the right signal is applied, which sounds like some folks I know.
More on “kraken” the bottom here.
Back then, I was spending a lot of early mornings near Howland Hook waiting for my work to begin, and I caught a Double Skin 37 moving bunkers
and maneuvered by Coral Coast. Was that mechanical dredge Captain A. J. Fournier in the distance above?
The Joker was then a more sedate Taurus, before joining the hilariously-named over at Hays.
Put Tasman Sea into the picture too. Is the Tasmanian still laid up in Louisiana?
And it was a great April 2012 day I caught the seldom-seen Patty Nolan
moving a houseboat into the sixth boro. Patty seems to be preparing for a comeback.
And the 1972 2325 teu Horizon Navigator, here with Samantha Miller alongside, was still working. Is the 1972 container ship still intact?
And let’s wind this up with Ellen and Maurania III returning to base after a job. Ellen is still in the sixth boro, and Maurania III is in the Delaware.
All photos, WVD, April 2012.
Entirely unrelated, check out these Smithsonian photo winners.
Does equipment ever change in the sixth boro? Of course.
Thornton Bros, the 1958 Matton Shipyard product, was scrapped in 2014.
The 1971 Maria J is now Nicholas Vinik.
USACE Hudson, the sweetest Corps boat I’ve ever seen, got transformed into a fish house in 2019. Advance Victoria, 2006, is now Kition M, anchored in the Persian/Arabian Gulf.
The 2002 Labrador Sea is now Vane’s Brooklyn.
The 1944 Gage Paul inadvertently became a very deep fish house in 2015.
The 2002 Gramma Lee T is now in Norfolk.
Does the US Navy still have airships? If ever I have the chance to ride in one of these, I’ll take it in a heartbeat!
Bruce A brought in the 1970 Crowley Mars and
Michael J brought in the 1975 Crowley Pioneer; both Crowley’s were shipped off to Africa later in 2012. The 1971 Michael J. was scrapped late in 2021. Christine was working for Reinauer.
The massive 1970 Penn No. 6 is now the massive Vinik No. 6.
The 1972 Catherine Turecamo is now on the Great Lakes as John Marshall.
Do you still want to tell me nothing ever changes in the sixth boro?
All photos taken by WVD during the first SIX days of 2012.
Wow! It’s time to flip the calendar to March 2022 already; that means flashing back to March 2012. A photo of Bow Chain on the KVK seems a good place to start, for reasons apparent at the end of this post.
Since these “retro” posts highlight what’s no more to be seen, this is a good one, Brendan, a 6140 hp tug that now is Cindy Rose.
Sea-land Racer dominates the foreground, but look at the unmistakable Viking farther back.
Yes, I mean this Eklof-KSea-Kirby 4300 hp Viking, dismantled a few years ago already.
This 3900 hp Brendan still works daily in the boro.
Also passing the Sea-land Racer is this 1900 hp Pegasus, when she looked as she had coming from the shipyard without an upper wheelhouse. Pegasus is still a busy machine in the port.
2012 was the year I decided to see the Panama Canal before the new sections opened. In the middle ground here between the Miraflores locks and the ridge, you can see the mounds of dirt on the middle distant ground. Those mounds represent dirt displaced digging the new channels.
In the farther lane, Pacific-bound it’s Nord Snow Queen and nearer . . . Atlantic Polaris. And again in the photo below, see the dirt removed to create the new channel. As of this writing, Atlantic is at the dock in Houston and Nord between the ancient, now-Russian port of Novorossiysk and wherever she will be able to enter port.
See more dirt on the nearer ridge? And the traffic, like Chiquita Schweiz and now called Schweiz Reefer, it continues night and day
Tugboats–see many of them here–have a greater role in the new Panama Canal channels, replacing the locomotives evident in some of the photos above and below, but they were already plentiful pre-expansion. Here Veraguas 1 heads Pacificward…
assisting Bow Summer in accompaniment with
locomotives aka mules, once supplied by GE but now sourced elsewhere. Ever Dynamic, like the Odfjell parcel tankers whose names begin with “bow” [no doubt named for the renowned bowsprite],
are as likely to be seen in any major port as in the sixth boro. Ever Dynamic had been in the sixth boro just a month earlier than here, making me almost feel like it was welcoming me to Panama, which I found a very hospitable place. Bow Summer as of this writing waits outside a South African port. Ever Dynamic was dismantled in Alang almost exactly two years ago.
All photos, WVD, in March 2010.
Sea-land Racer and Viking have both been dismantled in the past five years, Racer in Alang and Viking in Texas.
It’s time for a February installment of “retro sixth boro,” a glance back at some of the boats working in New York harbor exactly a decade ago. Cheyenne was still here, pushing a scow out the east end of the KVK.
I’m not sure the 61′ x 22′ 1970 Salvage Master is still in the harbor. Even back a decade ago, I only saw it once or twice.
The 1962 Kristy Ann Reinauer was scrapped in 2015. The 2000 Tokyo Express is still around; in fact, I believe I saw it just recently.
The 1980 Independence was pushing 1982 tank barge OSG 243. Independence was scrapped in 2020, and the barge laid up.
The 1981 Huron Service is now Genesis Victory. The 1976 Atlantic Salvor has carried that name since 1998.
Na’hoku (Na Hoku) is a 1981 tugboat that spent a short time in the boro a decade ago; later in 2012, Na’hoku (meaning stars, as used for navigation in Hawaiian) was sold to a South Carolina company that kept the name. As of this writing, she’s in Fernandina Beach FL. As for DBL 85, a tank barge by that name was built in 2009 and is likely still in use.
The 1976 Barents Sea switched over to Kirby and then in 2016, re-emerged as Donjon’s Atlantic Enterprise. Along the left side of the photo, Casablanca is a 1987 barge.
All photos, WVD, from February 2012.
Let’s have another look at photos in the sixth boro during the first month of 2012. It was a snowy day that I caught Cheyenne
and Franklin Reinauer. Cheyenne is now in Wisconsin, for sale, and Franklin is still in this boro.
Thomas Dann had a crane barge over alongside New Century. Thomas Dann had a serious fire off Florida and was scrapped in 2015. New Century is now Lucky Century, NE bound near Mauritius and Reunion.
Bohemia assisted Quantico Creek with a bunker barge. Bohemia is on the Delaware River, and Quantico Creek . . . in Tampa.
This scene was so busy I might come back to it in another post. What I can identify here (l to r) is this: Maersk Murotsu, Quantico Creek, of course Greenland Sea, Dubai Express, and a Reinauer barge. Dubai Express is currently on its way from the Med to the sixth boro.
Seaboats had already been scooped up by K-Sea in January 2012, which had itself been scooped up by Kirby. Notice the stacks of the two boats: the red/black initials have been painted over and a K-Sea oval placed but not painted with the K-Sea logo nor had the stack itself been painted K-Sea “yellow.” Mediterranean Sea and
Weddell Sea still carried their mostly-green livery, and when painted, we clearly Kirby boats. Mediterranean Sea has just recently changed hands again and is now Douglas J., a Donjon boat.
Beaufort Sea was still fully K-Sea, as evidenced by the yellow stack and the K-Sea oval. She was scrapped around 2016.
Left to right here, it’s Pearl River I and Morton S. Bouchard Jr. The ship is now Zim Vancouver–just left Norfolk for Spain–and the tug is now Stasinos Boys.
Ellen McAllister passed the 7 buoy.
And finally, Penn Maritime began the year as its own company before been acquired by Kirby, and
Penn No. 6 carried that name forward until 2018 when she began what we now know as Vinik No. 6.
All January 2012 photos, WVD, who hopes you enjoy this photographic account of some of the changes in the sixth boro in the past decade. I have lots of photos of that month, so I could do an installment “C” of that retrospective. Besides, although there are things I want to see in the boro today, I might have to acclimate to the cold first. Yesterday after it was 57 degrees here, and this morning . . . a dramatic 31.
And unrelated, here‘s how the new year was feted in around the world . . .
Also unrelated, this 1953 “tugboat tug” (sic) is still for sale.
Why does time pass so quickly?! As if it were just a few years ago, I recall this Wilmington NC stop on the road trip return from family in Georgia. I was surprised by the amount of traffic in this Cape Fear River port, like Margaret McAllister here passing Corpus Christi with Petrochem Supplier. Margaret McAllister is one of McAllister’s ex-USN Natick-class tugs, in Margaret‘s case previously known as Tonkawa (YTB-786)
Kathryne E. McAllister (the 1980 one) followed the Margaret to sail a tanker.
Kathryne E. is currently laid up, but Moran’s Cape Henry (That’s a popular name for tugboats; I know of at least two others, one Kirby and one Vane.) below is still working, although currently in the Caribbean.
The first few days of January 2012 were as mild as those in 2022. Here Ellen S. Bouchard heads west in the KVK pushing B. No. 282. Ellen S. now wears Centerline’s lion logo.
Iron Mike might still wear Wittich Brothers black, blue and white, although I’ve not seen her out in the boro in a while.
Atlantic Salvor passes in front of a quite changed Manhattan skyline, as seen from St. George.
Gramma Lee T. Moran has departed the sixth boro for Baltimore. Southern Spirit is an active crude tanker but she goes by Celsius Esbjerg, currently departing the Bohai Sea for the Yellow Sea.
A light Mckinley Sea heads west in the Kills. She’s currently painted in Kirby colors, but laid up in Louisiana. Beyond her, Laura K Moran–now based in Savannah–assists tanker Mount Hope.
Marion Moran is out of the Moran fleet, and is likely wearing Dann Ocean livery, although I can’t confirm that.
The 1983 Sand Master was always a favorite of mine; she was sold into the southern Caribbean, but she may be scrapped by now.
Capt. Fred Bouchard was sold to a southern California construction company.
And we hold it up here, midmonth, with a vessel type I’ve not seen in a while . . . a livestock ship, Shorthorn Express, which had come into the Upper Bay for services, not to transfer cargo. The 1998 Luxembourg-flagged Shorthorn Express is active, currently traveling between Israel and Portugal. I used to see these regularly coming into the Kuwaiti port of Shuwaikh. I also recall a horrendous sinking of a livestock ship heading for China back in 2020.
All photos, WVD, in January 2012.
The year is in its last hours, and these vessels saw their last hours in this year as well. Of course, this is a subjective list, made up of mostly photos I’ve taken over the years of sixth boro and Great Lakes vessels. This list is not definitive. If you know of others, you might add them in the comments section.
Many photos of Helen McAllister have appeared here over the years, but time caught up with the 1900 Helen, who began and ended her life on Staten Island. I caught her doing her last dance –a tango or a waltz– here.
More than 10 years of silence passed between the photo above at the McAllister NY yard and the one below in Tottenville. Eagle-eyed Tony A. caught her stripped of her identification and ready for the scrapping jaws last month.
The 1907 Pegasus saw her end this year as well. I spent many hours on Pegasus, and regretfully, sometimes the scrappers’ jaws are the most humane end for boats.
The 1970 Joanne Reinauer III also saw its end. I learned a lot about the modifications made to tugboat from her and from photos of her tranformations supplied by readers. My photo below is from 2009.
The 1972 Viking also saw a series of modifications. You might think a powerful machine like this . . . like these . . . would never wear out, but like you and me, they do. I believe it was 2021 that she was scrapped, but it may have been earlier. The photo below is from the September 5, 2010 tugboat race.
The Great Lakes shed some vessels also. Mississagi began work in 1943. I took the photo in Lake St. Clair in August 2016. She was towed to a Sault Ste. Marie scrapyard in October 2021.
Manistee dates from the same year and has the same dimensions–620′ x 60′– as Mississagi. This photo I took in Toledo, where she had been laid up for some time. More on Manistee here.
Ojibway, a 1952 bulker, is currently underway in the Saint Lawrence River, bound for Port Cartier with a load of grain. After that, she’ll lay up awaiting an uncertain future. For what it’s worth, she came off the ways the year I was born.
And on a sad note, the 1975 St. Clair was relatively new for a Great Lakes bulk carrier, but a devastating fire during winter layup in February 2019 condemned her; she arrived at the scrapyard in Port Colborne just a few weeks ago. Photo here is credited to Corey Hammond.
Thanks to Tony and Corey for their photos; all others, WVD, who wishes you all a healthy and happy 2022 and the fulfillment of all your goals.
And unrelated to this post but entirely germane to this day of reflection/new goal setting before a new year, check out Ellen Magellan’s expeditions. That’s not her real name but it’s so clever I wish I’d come up with it.
Ten years ago, the lower Manhattan skyline looked quite different. A vessel bringing orange juice from the southern hemisphere was also a smaller one; the 1985 Orange Blossom last sailed into Alang six and a half years ago, and if you don’t know what that means, click on the Alang link. As it turns out, I may have caught photos of her last voyage inbound Port Newark here. Orange Blossom 2 completes her most recent voyage today, arriving in Santos BR–read this link for some superlatives–after departing the sixth boro on November 13.
I’d thought 1976 Barents Sea was a goner, a reef candidate, when I caught this photo of her running after a long hiatus, but she was thoroughly rehabbed and lives on as Atlantic Enterprise.
The 1970 Evening Tide below was nearly 40 years into her career with Bouchard; she’s now a Stasinos boat but her superstructure still painted in this brilliant red.
Laura K Moran–launched 2008– was among the top horsepower assist tugs in the harbor then. She currently works in Savannah.
The 1981 McKinley Sea is currently laid up, carrying Kirby livery.
Ice Base and I had a misunderstanding; upon first seeing her and lacking at that time a smart phone with AIS, I read her name as something different that I can no longer un-see. She’s currently in the port of Quintero CL, 50 miles north of Valparaiso, with the less ambiguous name of Cabo San Vicente.
Back in those days I often took advantage of the walkway along the west side of the Bayonne Bridge, something I’ve not done with the new walkway. Note the absolutely ship-shape Gramma Lee T Moran as seen from above assisting
NYK Romulus with Margaret Moran standing by. Margaret is still in our fair boro, Gramma Lee is in Baltimore, and NYK Romulus is currently in Southampton UK.
The 1973 Amy Moran has been sold out of the fleet, and was last in the Jacksonville FL area wearing Stasinos tan and green as John Joseph.
And tomorrow I’ll post a part B of December 2011 retrospective, building on the odd orange vessel shown below.
All photos from December 2011, WVD, who’s astonished by the amount of change in a decade.
I hope you enjoy looking back 10 years as much as I do, although some might say I live in the past a little too much. Here’s some dense traffic, l to r, Twisted Sisters, Lucinda Smith, Maurania III, and Petrozavosk.
Up in Lyons NY at the drydock, Governor Roosevelt shows her deep 8′ 6″ belly. Rosie will turn 100 in summer 2027.
Greenland Sea . . . one of my favorites is likely on her terminal lay up.
Does Duty still do duty on the Delaware?
Maria J is now Nicholas Vinik.
Charles D. is still working hard in the boro, as she was here helping Zim Virginia around Bergen Point. I do miss the walkway on the WEST side of the Bayonne Bridge.
This Peter is now Long Island . . . or Long Peter if you like.
Resolute assists Maersk Kentucky around that same point.
Amberjack is now Kirby Dann Ocean white and blue, and some of the Bouchard boats are now this Penn Maritime gray.
Giulio Verne was in town for some submarine cabling, and I’ve heard tell there was a fabulous Italian chef on board. She’s now docked in Naples IT.
I went to Detroit for Thanksgiving, and made a stop at Mariner’s Church, alluded to in “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” [In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed. In the maritime sailors’ cathedral. The church bell chimed ’til it rang twenty-nine time…] . I’m told the pastor at the church objected to the word musty and now Lightfoot sings it as “In a rustic old hall in Detroit …” In fact, you can confirm that here.
And let me throw two more in. I took this photo seven years ago from Rhinecliff as I headed south the day I completed my season on tugboat Urger. This was my way of reconnecting with the sixth boro. Maryland is now Liz Vinik.
And finally, a photo from Jason LaDue . . . it’s Grouper as she looked in 2000. A week ago her second auction concluded with a winning bid of $4850, but I don’t know who tendered that bid. According to my source, no movement has happened since the auction concluded.
Happy November. All photos except Jason’s by WVD.
These photos I took back in September 2011.
This boat became Bouchard Boys and is now in Red Hook waiting to be repainted as Stasinos Boys. She’s 100′ x 31′ and 3900 hp.
North Sea has had many owners; currently she’s Sause Brothers North Sea out of Portland OR. She’s 120′ x 34′ vessel with 4200 hp moving her.
Growler used to be one of my favorites during the years I went to the Hudson River tugboat races. She’s changed hands several times recently and last I saw her she was in the Arthur Kill. She’s a 1962 Jacksonville-built WYTL, as the others, 64′ x 19′ powered by a 300 single Cat D-375 V8, or once was.
How about another shot of another attempt . . . with Maurania III and Ross Sea looking on.
Since coming off the ways in 1979, Miriam Moran has worked in the sixth boro of New York under that name. From my outsider’s perspective, she has paid off handsomely. At 99′ x 32′ and with 3000 hp, she has just assisted Seabourn Sojourn into the passenger terminal.
Sassafras then was three years old; she’s since been sold out of the Vane fleet and now wears colors of Norfolk Tug as George Holland, at 90′ x 32′ and 3000 hp.
Thornton Bros. here was just a few years away from the scrapper; she began life as John E. Matton at the shipyard in Cohoes in 1958. Her long run is profiled in a tugster post here. The “shipyard” link is a couple hours’ good history reading, including a surprise about a well-known naval architect who once worked for Matton.
As part of the 10-year commemoration of 9/11, USS New York came back to the sixth boro after having made her inaugural visit here two years before. The yellow/brown water reveals the aftermath of Hurricane Irene that gorged all the streams upriver. USS New York has a FB page here. Escorting her here is Ellen McAllister.
Yacht Black Knight made an appearance passing the tip of Manhattan while passing from the Sound to the North River in mid-month after theb hurricane. She’s a 1968 product of Goudy & Stevens, an East Boothbay ME yard that has done a wide variety of vessels.
I’ve got a few dozen pics from this month in the archives, but let’s call this the end of this post; all photos, WVD.
tugster: a waterblog 
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