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Twas the day before Thanksgiving, and the Port ‘Liz had ships aplenty,
but the very next day it was almost empty.
In a different part of the US, TS Empire State, which just two months ago was alive and lurking beneath Throgs Neck bridge, has delivered itself to the breakers in Brownsville.
Heading back to the sixth boro . . . go to the infrequently–it seems–updated google map satellite view for the east side of Staten Island, and you ‘ll see this impressive flotilla . . .
ten tugboats and eleven tank barges. I know some of you might be able to identify some or all of these 21 vessels, now scattered to the seven seas.
While I’m posting about online visuals, I enjoyed Sal’s discussion here yesterday on the current state of piracy around the world but particularly off West Africa. This reminded me of how long ago already the Maersk Alabama aka Captain Phillips incident happened; before clicking on the link, guess which year that vessel was held. USS Bainbridge, which visited the sixth boro in 2016, was involved in retaking the ship. Here’s a helpful site Sal mentioned that tracks incidents of piracy around the seven seas.
And one more . . . can you imagine spending 11 days and nights on an open boat at sea? How about that period of time riding the top of a tanker’s rudder!!? Read about it here.
As the robots diligently do their thing in the tower, I’ve been out gallivanting, as you likely know. The where and the how long . . . you might not know. Answer: I’m in the New Iberia South Drainage Canal, aka NISDC, kinda sorta between the fascinating home of Tabasco on Avery Island and the bayou still as uncharted (well . . . not really) as in the days of Jean Lafitte and his Baratarians, and of course some of their descendants.
From a distance, you know the locations of waterways and ports from hundreds of spuds, three per vessel. More on this indigenous species of technology can be seen here (published 1985) and here.
This one was supposed to have departed a week ago, but “boat time” says it leaves–as I do–when the work is complete, maybe a week from now.
Meanwhile, the delay means I get to see a series of sunrises and sunsets
and the light effects on the bottom of hulls, something not otherwise visible except with a snorkel mask–at least–in the realm of the alligators.
No, I’m not going in here.
Work on other lift boats ends, and new ones arrive and get snagged near our dock.
Others pass by on fingers of the NISDC to elevate themselves elsewhere.
And when rain comes, it’s intense but cooling.
All photos, WVD, who arrived here too late for the Shrimp and Petroleum Festival (yup… that’s the name) and too early for the Sugar Festival. Guess I’ll have to return for that. Of course, today is Creole Culture Day not far from NISDC.
Previous tugster posts from this area can be seen here, here, and here. With denser populations, places east of here have figured in posts like here and here.
And just for context, the NISDC heads south to the Gulf ICW. More on this section of the ICW can be seen here.
How about a random sample, as the title says. Afrodite, launched 2005, and dwt of 53k. I believe that was Normandy arriving.
Usma, not US Military Academy because that’s at West Point NY, but a 2007 tanker with a dwt of 53k.
Seameridian, 2001 and right around 50k.
Seaenvoy, same fleet as Meridian, but launched 2017 and 113k dwt.
In this twofer, we have Elandra Willow in the distance, a 2019 launch and 50k capacity, and MTM Santos, 2013 and 22k.
Navig8 Guard was launched in 2019 and capacity around 50k.
The “extra-large” stack houses its scrubber technology.
The oldster of the group is Bow Flora, 1998 and 37k.
She’s an Odfjell tanker.
Lumen N, assisted by Brendan Turecamo, is 2008 and 65k.
And rounding out this post, with pirate-preventing guards on the rails,
it’s BW Kallang, of the huge BW fleet.
All photos, WVD.
Ontario here means the province and the lake. In the NE corner of the lake lies Picton and Picton Terminals, homeport of a tug called Sheri Lynn S. Well, Sheri Lynn S just got a big sister, and one place to start the story is in UAE, Sharjah a few months back . . . in August.
Captain Tjalling van der Zee, of van der Zee Marine Services was engaged to deliver the new tug Amy Lynn D or ALD, a Damen 3209 Shoalbuster, the 9414 nm from UAE to Lake Ontario. Capt. van der Zee shared most of these photos. Here is more Damen Shoalbuster info. The first part of the voyage mostly circumnavigated the Arabian peninsula. Having lived there for three years, I can imagine the heat topping at least 100 F.
Part of the voyage transited areas of “unrest” and armed guards were on board for any annoyances, but these folks were just fishing. Jeddah was passed on October 17.
This is a view from the wheelhouse northbound in the Suez Canal around October 20. Pilots were required. Any guesses on the total number of pilots taken on this 9400+ nm trip? Answer follows.
ALD passed Sicily on October 26 . . . . it had traveled light until Algeciras SP, where a barge Jacob Joseph C carrying three Damen tugs was met. The small tugs were to be delivered to Halifax and Montreal.
This is the view of the barge from ALD after traveling offshore following the Great Circle.
Azores Ponta Delgada was seen on November 14. By the way, any idea of crew number? How about daily fuel consumption? All answers to follow.
An ingenious “selfie” was managed, albeit with an unsatisfactory camera, when instruments showed ALD and tow crossing fairly near an eastbound ship.
Big seas were part of the experience.
The tow arrived in Halifax on December 6. Mac Mackay documented the safe arrival here. Thx, Mac.
Two of the small tugs, both Damen Stan 1205 class, were offloaded in Halifax.
The remaining tug arrived in Montreal, where
it was discharged.
To enter the Saint Lawrence Seaway, Jacob George C was put on the nose and
I’m not sure who took this photo, but I borrowed it from the Picton Terminals FB page. It shows the tug and barge easing into a SLSW lock.
On the last morning, Nathan Jarvis, working on Robinson Bay, took this of the homestretch as ALD and JJC passed Clayton NY.
And finally . . . ALD and Jacob Joseph C tie up at Picton Terminals.
Many thanks to Picton Terminals and Capt. van der Zee for use of photos and time. Any errors are mine.
Some answers, 25 pilots, 6 crew (1 Dutch/South African and 5 Filipino), and approximately 1200 gallons of fuel daily. Last but not least . . . 82 nights on the boat.
Wow! Today is already 02/02/2020, so turn the calendar page if you have it.
Torm Hilde is featured on the February page. Here are more photos of the tanker from last year.
So in the interest of making the calendar part of a “transmedia” project, I decided to see where in the world she might be today, a year on. I include below what I learned: transiting the Red Sea on a voyage from Norway to Singapore. Notice on the lower left: “armed guards onboard.”
This reminds me of a story I heard from a captain down south who delivers fast OSVs to the Gulf, Arabian or Persian, that is. His credentials seemed bon fide, so here’s a loose paraphrase of what he said when I asked him about protection from pirates while transiting the Red Sea and around to the Gulf. “We have armed guards onboard. [He mentioned the type of arms but I’ve forgotten the specifics, only that they were long-range, rapid, and lethal.] Upon arriving in waters where pirates frequent, we stop the boat and release a large inflatable floating target. As it floats away from the boat, we get on the radio and invite the pirates to approach. The armed guards then obliterate the target, as a display of lethality. Then, after inviting the pirates to follow, we throttle up and get to top speed, leaving the pirates far behind. So far.”
I’ve never been on the southern portion of the Red Sea, only from Jeddah to Port Suez and that was 35 years ago. Here‘s an article from the past decade.
Happy February.
What the title means is something different than I had planned . . . So watch this series of screen shots . . . first at 0010 hrs today.
But then, look who picks it up, re-messages it, and it appears in their news feed!! NBC, NYDailyNews, USNews . . .!!
Tri-CityHerald comes from Washington state, and then there’s the SFChronicle . . .
. . . the ReadingEagle . . .
So when I got up this morning and read notes messaged to me and then a sampling of news from commercial outlets–as evidenced above–I’m in a tizzy.
I recognize the ship as a serious attempt at reproducing a vessel of 500 years ago and calling it Nao Santa Maria. So when I google Nao Santa Maria, I find they’ve been in town but their very own FB notice–I believe–says “first time in the US…” I’m done!!
This leads me to the vessel’s “serious” page, rather than their FB hype, and for the second time (I’ll get to that) I read this:
The “Nao Santa María” is one of the most famous ships of mankind. On October 12th of 1492, led by Christopher Columbus, it played the main role on one of the most important historic landmarks: the discovery of America, the encounter between two worlds that changed the future of universal history.
On August 3rd of 1492 it sailed off from the port of Palos de la Frontera (Huelva, Spain) together with the caravels “Pinta” and “Niña”, the so called three caravels from which this nao was the flagship. In all references written by Columbus about the Santa María in his famous diary of the expedition, he refers to it as “nao”, as did other chroniclers of the time:
“Cristopher Columbus loaded, apart from those two, a nao… and on the third, being the nao bigger than the rest, he wanted to travel himself, and hence it became the flagship”
It was acquired by the Spanish Crown to be part of Juan de la Cosa’s columbine expedition. Although De la Cosa was natural from the Spanish northern region of Cantabria and lived in the southern Puerto de Santa María, the general belief is that the vessel was built somewhere on the coast of Galicia, hence her previous name: La Gallega (The Galician) . . . .
It goes on. You can read it here. So, Nao Santa Maria (NSM) is one of the “most famous ships of mankind” by their own proclamation, and US history books would generally agree. How many ships’ names did you know in –say–fifth grade?
But I go on with my rant. On NSM’s “blog” section, and you’ll see here they say they begin their “tour along the US” here back in January 2019, and at that, they state they arrive in the US then from San juan PR . . . Is PR NOT in the US? !@#@!! And was their summer “tall ships parade” as far west as Green Bay WI not in the US? Moreover, did NSM’s participation in the 2019 event ever get shared nationwide identifying them as a pirate ship?
In the world of “fake news” and “spin” and otherwise biased reportage, this surely seems like a cautionary tale. This out-of-control story about NSM as a pirate ship reminds me of this old collecting feathers story.
I first encountered and posted about NSM in Ogdensburg NY here.
All “cut’n’paste” and sentiments are solely those of Will Van Dorp, who has previous made known my attitude toward pirates here.
If you think you’ll find a disabled pirate ship in the sixth boro tis morning, well, they’re nearly to Atlantic city by now, trying to outrun the travesty of reportage captured in google . . . or bury their loot?
Click on the photo below and you’ll see basic details of 1979-built LNG carrier LNG Virgo.
Click on the image below, and you’ll find a 9-minute video with details of a boatload of refugees rescued by LNG Virgo in the South China Sea and what happens 30+ years later.
Lauren Vuong, one of those refugees, writes: “I was seven years old when my family was rescued from the South China Sea in June 1980. We were part of the “Boat People” crisis. We were ten days at sea, lost and depleted of food, water and fuel. Barring a miracle, death was an imminent certainty. That miracle appeared in the form of a liquefied natural gas carrier flying the American flag, LNG Virgo, an image that forever cemented itself in my mind as being synonymous with life and freedom.”
Lauren, now making a documentary about their rescue, has a GoFundMe site if you want to help. Recently Lauren was at SUNY Maritime at an LNG conference.
Lauren’s story reminds me of an email I got a few years back and shared here; it involves a rescue conducted by a tug that went on to work in the sixth boro.
I took these fotos two and a half years ago . . . February 2011, and posted others I took here. But last night
I read that the vessel is currently anchored just outside Murmansk and the crew awaiting
word on which among them will be charged with piracy.
Maybe the crew can seek asylum in . . Michigan?
Another unrelated update: Sailing Cargo . . . New Yorkers can order Vermont products now to arrive by ship in late October.
Click here for an account of gallivants in and around Ocracoke and Hatteras Inlets as well as my connection to these waters. Beaufort Inlet–near Cape Lookout–is scheduled for some depth maintenance these days with Marinex Construction excavating what McFarland count not extract. Katherine Weeks enters the inlet from sea with a light scow.
The only USACE presence I saw was Snell. USACE awarded Marinex the contract to subtract a half million tons of sand from beneath these waves.
I believe this is cutterhead/pipleine dredge Savannah, connected by pipeline to this
scow and loading equipment.
When Katherine tows the loaded scow out–here past Sea Quest II, a dive boat (more on that later)
Na Hoku-formerly a K-Sea vessel—
tails. The Sea Knight helicopter
just happened overhead. I’d love the view from a helicopter here.
Once through the narrow inlet, Katherine heads out for the dumping area and Na Hoku returns to its holding station.
Who knew the inlet could be this busy . . . l to r: Grace Moran, Aurora, Na Hoku, and Salamina1. More on the last one on that list tomorrow. Aurora, listed as a sulphur carrier, carries PotashCorp colors.
Potash Corp has their big mine about 35 miles from here, as the pelicans fly.
Chief is clearly a Marinex tug.
I’m not sure the ID of the inbound vessel here passing Chief, here heading out to the dredge.
I can’t say for certain about that dive boat early on and whether the divers had been on Queen Anne’s Revenge, but there’ve been lots of salvage activity around the Inlet in recent days.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp.
Here’s the engine order telegraph and a bit of uniform. Guess the vessel? Doubleclick enlarges fotos.
Here’s more signage. Identification later in the post.
And a closeup of the topsail furling system of Etoile, one of the French schooners.
More brass and brightwork on Etoile.
And the guard of the passerelle.
Not far away, crew on this vessel looked less inviting. Guess the nationality?
Canadian. She’s guarding HMCS Iroquois, built in the same Quebec town as Mathilda!
Here was Iroquois last Wednesday converging with other vessels in the sixth boro, and
here she is nose to nose with USCGC (WLB 202) Willow, alternatively captured by bowsprite.
From the bridge deck of Argus, looking over the stern and toward the west . . . Governors Island and New Jersey beyond. Along the horizon near the south tip of Governors Island . . . those are the cranes of Bayonne and even fainter beyond that Port Elizabeth.
Here’s the view from the forward positioned bridge. Back in 2007 I caught these fotos of Oslo Express, the only bridge-forward container vessel I can recall seeing in the sixth boro.
Here’s a bit more info on Argus. My tour guide and globalsecurity.org describe Argus as the only vessel in the world to have a CT scanner. As it turns out, she also has a cat. This is Simon, and yes . . . Simon went off duty decades ago, but his healing presence in the hospital lives on. More sobering, Argus has patient monitors that allow patients to have a chance to survive IED-caused triple amputations.
Nearing dusk, yesterday afternoon . . . the Brooklyn vessels as seen from the water: stern of Seneca, Shirane, the French Belle Poule and Etoile, and Cuauhtemoc.
Which brings me back to the Mexican ship. Some of the cadets I spoke with finally explained this flag . . . it’s the captain’s personal flag . . . personal pirate flag, actually is what the cadet said.
Aboard were over 250 crew, who started their morning yesterday polishing brass before they let any visitors up the pasillo.
And the vessel was immaculate.
Below the stack here, I’m told, is a 1250 hp Cat.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp, who needs to get to another job now.
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