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Thomas A. Feeney tows an unidentified barge, which appears to be wood.
A closeup of the same photo shows the tug is clearly Thomas A. Feeney, the founder of the shipyard that built wooden barges. Any idea where Thomas A. Feeney may have been built? Her fate? Openings can be seen at the top of the wheelhouse as well.
K. Whittelsey, was built in 1930, scrapped in 2008, and of course there were a lot of stories found in legal decisions–and photos— in between.
Here she transits westbound at lock E8. She spent some of her working years as a OTCo boat, a sad few years sunk in Gowanus Canal.
Tug Seneca pushing tank barge Atlantic. Any ideas on which Seneca this was? Note the “Observe Safe Boating Week” banner and the laundry hanging below along the port side. The gentleman standing on the gate almost appears to be holding a cell phone to his left ear.
This would be the 1907 Eileen McAllister.
Morania No. 9 was built at Matton Shipyard in 1951
and christened Edward Matton. Was that upper house removed?
I’m left to wonder about the conversation between the formally dressed man-in-black on shore and crewm,an on the boat. But more important, if this is also No. 9, what happened to then portholes in the wheelhouse?
In 2000, she was reefed off Manasquan River as Patrick J. McHugh as part of the Axel Carlson Artificial Reef.
As I stated yesterday, I have hundreds of these images for not only tugboats but also canal motor ships. Besides these, I’m told the Canal Society has thousands more negatives in storage, yet to be scanned or even inventoried.
I’m posting these in small batches to elicit what memories and associations are out there. Although I also post on Facebook to widen the cast, please comment here rather than on FB so that your comments remain with the post, not lost in the FB feed and flow.
As a way to begin working through the cache, I have jumped into this without a thorough plan; more Conners and Blue Line and Feeney images will follow. Using the tags, you can link to what’s been done in the past by clicking on a given tag [but maybe you already know that.]
If you focus on national weather, you might imagine snow has fallen to the extent that we’re back in the ice age, but I decided to walk out to the fishing pier near Owl’s Head, and
voila! there were Unico’s Teresa with Acadia as well as Regulus, bathed in rainbow light. Likely it was raining in Manhattan, but not on me, nor was it snowing.
More photos from my walk tomorrow, but I’m guessing Regulus is in port because of big seas out where she’s been working in the Bight.
All photos this morning, WVD, who has previously seen rainbows in the boro here.
Thanks for sending photos along. Capt. Jack Aubrey sent this along from Baltimore. He says, “The ship name and the assembled team almost looks set up. L to R: Eric, Timothy and Bridget McAllister.”
It really does. I’ll bet Pretty Team could travel all the English-speaking ports of the world and highlight all the great and pretty teams. At the moment, she’s still looking to pose with more teams in Baltimore.
Given the cold weather today, Tim Powell sent along these next photos from near Ottawa IL, midpoint on the Illinois River between Chicago and Peoria. Tim writes: “Once again I had the opportunity to serve my beloved transportation industry. On 01/05/2022 we delivered a load to the towboat MV Brian Napack. B&M Midstream is a full service family owned company. It was a chilly 10 degrees on the Illinois River in Ottawa Ill, with a 20 to 30 mph wind.”
When they receive an order, B&M Midstream goes to the nearest boat ramp, launches the boat,
comes in alongside,
transfers the supplies,
and then hauls the supply boat back onto the trailer. I guess the windows would clear once it warmed up, but the internet tells me it’s about that same temperature in that part of the Illinois River today.
And finally, Capt. Tony A caught Susan Rose –ex-Evening Breeze–the other days, and a bit later,
he caught J. George Betz in mid-paint transformation to Betz the Centerline boat. Watch for the lion to go on the stack.
Many thanks to Tony, Tim, and Jack for sharing these photos. I’ll keep my eyes open for more Pretty ships. Here‘s another one.
The phrase “supply chain issues” appears to have eclipsed “pandemic” in my thoroughly unscientific and entirely anecdotal and mental survey. The PANYNJ website does provide some “facts and figures” you can mine and crunch to compare 2021 container movement here to that in 2012. An easy conclusion is that the container ships are generally larger, so throughput in and out is going to be greater. Can you guess how much greater?
Let’s look at a sample of container ships I saw in January 2012. I’ve no idea what the largest container ship serving P of NYNJ was in 2012, but CMA CGM Jules Verne, a 2013 vessel, is 1300′ x 176′ and carries 16,000+ teu.
Evergreen back then was operating Ever Devote. The 1998 Panamax ship is still around. Numbers are 964′ length x 105′ width and 4211 teu. That means it fit through the original Panama Canal, just barely; anything over 105′ wide does not.
2005 Cosco Tianjin is also still working. She’s 915′ x 131′ and 5752 teu.
Cosco Osaka, 2008, 849′ x 105′ and 4578 teu. She’s still working.
MOL Endurance, 2003, 964′ x 125′ and 4578 teu. She’s been scrapped.
APL Chile, 2000, 656′ x 89′ and 4038 teu. She’s also scrapped.
OOCL Norfolk, 2009, 852′ x 105′ and 4506 teu.
By the PANYNJ numbers, I see that in 2021, a total of teu lifts (loaded and empties) is around 9 million, not quite double the 2012 figure of about 5.5 million. Bigger ships calling, like CMA CGM Jules Verne, slows things down obviously; one of those carries almost the same number of containers as FOUR times APL Chile.
All 2012 photos here are credited to WVD, and any errors in calculations get blamed to the same guy.
Keep in mind that besides container traffic, the port moves a significant amount of other cargo, including dry bulk materials, petroleum, other wet bulk cargoes [like orange juice], vehicles, and passengers. If I’ve left anything out, I’m sure you’ll tell me.
Two separate parties sent me this article from the LA Times. With a title including the phrase “humble tugboat,” I was interested but not prepared for the fantastic photos. Thx John and George. Enjoy. Meanwhile, here are some more of my recent photos.
James D. Moran assisting on a towline above and Robert Weeks leaving the fuel dock below,
Andrea walled off from her barge above and Sarah Ann light below,
Gregg McAllister returning to base and Pegasus heading to work,
A light William Brewster and an equally light Daisy Mae,
Mackenzie Rose and Philadelphia, and
to close out this installment . . . Kimberly Turecamo assisting a ULCV.
All photos, WVD, who never associated the adjective “humble” with tugboats or their operators, and that’s not a bad thing.
If you’re new to this blog (or even if you are not), I’m always looking for photos from other people and places, especially, tugboats seen in South America, Asia, Oceania, and Australia.
Snow is the norm in January in the sixth boro, and we’ve just had unusual weather. On January 2, I was splitting NY wood wearing a t-shirt in the balmy almost 60 degrees.
As you may have guessed, I slipped my noon deadline today because I wanted some evidence of the normal snow accumulation that happened overnight.
Enjoy the results.
Decks are cleared, but snow blown into the outside of the bulwarks is just decorative.
Docklines and footing DO need to be cleared so that
operations proceed with safety.
If you’re not accustomed to this weather, you may not appreciate how unpleasant this pretty stuff can be,
especially if, as I hadn’t, you’ve not waterproofed your boots. Wearing the right clothes and footwear, helps you stay warm and safe.
Bollard pull remains the same, a little snow notwithstanding.
All photos today, WVD.
Consider this to be in the spirit of Dawn 2021. I wasn’t there at dawn because the ship I wanted to catch–CMA CGM Von Humboldt–departed in the 0’darks, but I arrived a bit later, cold notwithstanding.
The first tugboat I photographed in 2022 was Zeus! Truth be told, her profile against the Raritan highlands was unmistakeable, but I was a half hour too late for a better shot; I hadn’t expected a traffic tie-up. She’s headed for Hampton Roads and beyond.
The second and third are Bruce A. McAllister and
Ava M, going to the Narrows to see someone about a ship
Next it was Brendan Turecamo assisting a Liberian-flagged tanker, Horizon Thetis. If you want some interesting origin stories, check a mythology text about the relationship between Zeus and Thetis.
Chemical Petrochemical Trader with Brownsville as the prime mover was next.
A while later Bruce A and
and Ava M came in with their catch, Ever Far. I’ll put up more photos of this new Ever F-class vessel later.
And finally, it’s my first view ever of Centerline’s Rubia, ex-Denise A. Bouchard. If you look closely, you can see Centerline’s lion on the stack. And the name Rubia . . . that’s Spanish for “blonde”… hmmm; it looks more platinum to me.
All photos, January 4, 2022, WVD, who finds it interesting what cold, clear winter temperatures do to photos.
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.
tugster: a waterblog 
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