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Stephen B heads light westbound about to pass under the Bayonne Bridge, as
Mary H, especially busy during the cold times of the year, pushes some petroleum product in the opposite direction. Soon leaves will decorate Shooters out beyond her. There’s a pool hall in Queens by the name Shooters, so to clarify, here are some Shooters history posts from way back.
Mr Jim moves some aggregates, also eastbound out of Newark Bay.
James D. nudges Dublin Express as needed into Howland Hook.
Eric and Capt. Brian A. assist a CMA CGM box ship.
Evelyn Cutler moves some petroleum along the supply chain.
All photos by Will Van Dorp, who’s burning high octane himself these days.
Related: Let me reiterate Lee Rust’s question of a day or so ago: What is the current working estimate of operating tugs in NY’s sixth boro? For starters, I think it’s hard to count because of the dynamic, transient nature of traffic. Just ballparking it without breaking it down by company and enumerating, I’d say 75 at least. For consistency, let’s say we can count a tugboat as present if it shows up on AIS/VHF/traffic control at least once a month. I’d love to hear you estimates.
A confusing pic?
This is more clearly Capt. Brian A. and Eric, the two newest McAllisters in the boro, bringing up the stern of Gerd Maersk.
Much less similar, Ellen and Patrice here work the bow of an outbound tanker.
That top photo may be confusing as the ninth photo here is. So let me conclude by showing the photos taken seconds before and seconds after it.
For all I know, the smaller Brown tug may have been doing some training. I snapped that top photo when they were neck-and-neck from my vantage point. Eventually Thomas J. overtook Joyce.
The phots in between allow one to see how meticulous the paint scheme is on these boats. I’d love to see the engine room and other interior spaces.
All photos by Will Van Dorp.
April 2009 . . . a decade ago but it’s still palpable and present.
How could I not remember the morning before work I stood on the Elizabethport dock wishing the punch-in clock mechanism would slow to a pace slower than McAllister Responder and McAllister Sisters helping Eagle Boston ooze toward her Linden berth . . . Some who don’t take many photos might not be able to fathom how those moments stick to the memory.
Or the unmistakeable Norwegian Sea light and going for fuel near IMTT . . at dawn; it’s unforgettable. I was hoping there’d no delays on the rest of my way to work that morning.
Another day, I took lunch break in Elizabethport, thrilled that Laura K and Margaret were escorting Seoul Express away from Howland Hook . . .. backing her down.
And here’s one . . . I recall my pain this morning as I walked north along HRP, conflicted between the hurt of betrayal and the chill of being under-dressed, since I’d crept out early on a Saturday morning thinking that sun in April translated into warmth .. . and the throaty sound of Melvin E. Lemmerhirt distracted me from all those things.
Also from that dock in Elizabethport, I watched Rosemary McAllister and Responder ease Hyundai Voyager boat toward the dock in Howland Hook . . .
The scene here is harder to recall, but from l to r, it’s Nathan E. Stewart, New River, and –the uniquely named– Gramma Lee T Moran . . .!
In April 2009, I commuted into work early a lot,so that I could catch the likes of this . . . John Reinauer moving a barge southbound on the Arthur Kill… not knowing that a few years later, that equipment would travel across to the South Atlantic.
Scott Turecamo . . . this is the only photo in this “oldies” set that could have been taken in 2019 as easily as in 2009, except I’d have to photoshop in the current Manhattan skyline in the distance . . .
All photos by Will Van Dorp, who hopes he’s still fit to add to the archives in 2029 . . .
Well, maybe your subscription to something has expired, but reading tugster requires no subscription, and no lucre flows into tugster tower from your –I hope–daily habit of checking in here.
It is April first, and I quite like the day. Here was what I did April 1, 2010, and here . . . . the day in 2009. I don’t always mark it, although once I shifted focus of the blog entirely to trucks, the first time. That generated a bit of hate mail . . . which led to a whole new division of tugster, i.e., trickster. which autocorrect always wants to spell incorrectly. Truckster it is.
Since you’re here, let me share some miscellaneous photos. Sea Hunter has recently turned up near the McAllister yard. I posted my photos of Sea Hunter as she appeared in Boston three years ago here. Anyone know what fate she’s hunting for in the sixth boro? Also, on the photo below, there’s the Atlantic Trader barge. That’s the short-sea shipping hull I last saw in 2015 here.
Here’s a dense shot: near to far, the far tugs are Crystal Cutler, Jacksonville, Navigator, and another unidentified Vane tugboat.
So while I’m at it, let me share some mail.
From Phil Gilson, an article about fast US Navy vessels converted into shallow draft speedy banana boats, and that’s no April Fools joke. See it here.
And finally here’s an oldie-but-goodie from Steve Munoz. Jane McAllister (1968) and Margaret M McAllister (1928, converted from steam to diesel in 1957) assist a Sealand ship in Port Elizabeth back in 1986. Note the Old Bay Draw is still bissecting Newark Bay in that shot.
Thanks to Phil for the story/link and Steve for the photo.
The other photos by Will Van Dorp, and inscribed in tugster tower by invisible watermarks.
Let’s try a variation: I’ve random tugs and random ships, in which I’ve confined most pics to a single general location and a a single photographer . . . me. “Really random tugs” combines locations, eras, and photographers. So why not do the same with ships, although in this case I’ve taken almost all the photos but in a variety of locations and times.
But this first one launches the concept. What can you surmise or identify about the photo below, not taken by me? Answer at the end of this post.
Spring brings the Great Lakes back to life. Here is a March 11 AIS capture of traffic on the Lakes. The “arrows” are US and Canadian CG doing ice ops. The rivers system around Chicago has some traffic.
The NOAA satellite image below provides the explanation . . . what looks ice covered IS. With the Soo scheduled to open on Monday, March 25, icebreaking carries high priority. Note Green Bay as well.
March 22 marked the opening of the Welland Canal. The first upbound ship this year was Thunder Bay; this photo I took in Quebec in October 2017. The first down bounder through the Welland was Algoma Spirit, but I’ve never gotten a photo of her.
Kaye E. Barker was the first springtime vessel out of Duluth; I took this photo in the last week of navigation before the Soo closed on January 15. The Soo is scheduled to open on Monday, March 25.
The KVK is a busy place all year round, although it’s not uniformly busy. On this day last month, Alpine Maya followed Port Richmond, which followed Atlantic Sun.
Stolt Integrity here stemmed while waiting to replace the tanker in the distance to leave the berth.
Tankers come in a variety of sizes; Selasse is a particular small one.
By now, have you figured out that first photo? I’ll give you a clue: vessel name is Nggapulu and as of last night she was in BauBau.
Traffic moves at all hours; night photos turn out quite unsatisfying, but golden hour ones I enjoy. Can you guess the hull color on this one?
Foreshortening belies the amount of distance actually between the stern of the Evergreen ship and Diane B/John Blanche.
The colorful Stena tankers, bears and all, seem to appear mostly in winter.
So here you have the answer, sort of. Indonesia, being a far-flung archipelago supports a ferry system called Pelni, an acronym. As an example of distances here, find Jakarta lower left. From there to Makassar roughly in the center is 1000 miles! Pelni operates about two dozen ferries of various designs. Ngga Pulu has classic lines and was launched in 2002.
Here’s an English language site about traveling the archipelago. Restless? Aye peri!
Many thanks to Hannah Miller for sharing the photo of Ngga Pulu. I’m not sure how that’s pronounced, but it’s named for a mountain. Learning about Pelni and seeing this map gives me a whole new appreciation of Dewaruci.
and to someone else who took these photos back in 1974.
From what I can see in these photos, taken in the shipyard over in Jersey City, the lines are simple and very pleasing.
Of course, I can’t see the frames, and even if I could, I’m not a naval architect in any way shape or form.
Here’s she’s had finish paint. Joe Weber was the yard foreman. Here’s a photo of Joe Weber at work in 1983, and here’s one of her at Miller Girls at work around 2006.
I took the next photo, below, in January 2007, thirty-three years after she was built. And my question is . . . since I have not seen Miller Girls in a long time, is she still around?
It looks like some sponsons have been added.
Photos this old qualify this as a “fifth dimension” post.
Many thanks to Paul for passing these along.
Here goes another 3-fer, three cargo vessels making their way again through the KVK simultaneously. JRT here at dawn assists orange juice carrier Orange Blossom 2 through the ConHook Range.
Jonathan C passes in front of them, returning from assisting another vessel now bound for sea.
Right behind the juice carrier is a box ship.
As the juice ship nears midpoint in the KVK, notice a RORO rounding Bergen Point at the west end of the KVK.
As I said, congestion . .. that’s routine. Kimberly travels along the starboard bow of the RORO,
Meanwhile, that box ship mentioned earlier has Eric on port
and Capt Brian A. at the stern.
Glovis Safety . . . headed for Philly and as of this moment is midAtlantic on its way to Zeebrugge.
As I said . . . skillful mariners make a congested waterway seem just routine.
All photos by Will Van Dorp.
It might as well be spring already. Well, maybe my wish is that spring were here. I heard a spurious claim on a TV I visited the other day that March 20 is the planetary beginning of spring in the north but March 1 is the meteorological start of spring. But it must be true since I heard it on TV!??
But pairs, not Paris. Capt. Brian and Charles D. . . . interesting pair showing evolution of design 50 over the half century between the launch of each.
Fells Point landed Doubleskin 302 with Stephen B doing assist. That’s the first I seen Stephen B in the assist role.
Miss Julia could be Dylan Cooper‘s workboat.
CF Campbell heads east passing Scott Turecamo/New Hampshire and then
makes for the Upper Bay, where JRT is assisting Orange Blossom 2, herself a bloom in the dawn light. The photo above and the one below I took less than a minute apart, yet you’d think the light was saying hours separated the two.
Kimberly passes Eric.
Marie J Turecamo and Mister Jim run side by side under the Bayonne Bridge. Does anyone know when the pedestrian walkway on the bridge will open?
All photos by Will Van Dorp.
This light is available for only a few minutes twice a day but then only if the rising or setting sun is not cloud covered. Humidity existed the other morning too, in advance of the impending rain. I’m not sure why, but late winter/early spring light seems richer as well, although that may be related to directionality.
Alex McAllister approached from the east end of the KVK, and her illumination and that of her background differs
from that of Amy Moran, approaching from the west end of the strait.
Pokomoke followed Alex, about a minute later, but the light has already changed.
Andiamo‘s port bow has caught no rays yet, unlike the west side of the dock where she’s tied up.
Meanwhile, Amy moves past and into the Upper Bay. Lighting like this is certainly worth getting up and out for.
All photos by Will Van Dorp, who linked previous installments of this title here.
For good photos, andiamo one of these pre-dawns.
To continue on from yesterday’s list . . . I’ve done chugster, jetster, even a gangster . . . though you have to search for it here by scrolling a bit, but the blog is called tugster, and I’m proud of that some chuckles notwithstanding . . . .
This is a cross section for the 250th time, a random sampling of what tugboats were working in the Upper Bay of NYC aka the sixth boro on a given morning earlier this week. By the way, the 001 version of this title dates from October 2007.
Vane Brothers boats and barges abound.
Hunting Creek stands by a set of four of them, while
Wye River travels light past the ferry racks.
Franklin Reinauer travels light past the count-defying load of containers on a ULCV over in Global.
ATB Freeport and Chemical Transporter transfer cargo over at the east end of IMTT, at
the same time
Scott Turecamo and New Hampshire do.
CF Campbell stands by with Long Island.
And passing an unusual but new landmark along the sixth born margins,
Patrice McAllister makes her way west. Quick . . . name a larger global garment retailer than H & M, and what the initials H & M expand to? Answers here.
All photos by Will Van Dorp, whose fingers froze and cold tears flowed while having the float-about, look-about.
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