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Timo Pajunen took this photo back in 2010. Here are my questions for you: whose livery? what mission? what was McArthur‘s original mission? I’ll answer at the end of the post.
Charles Ritchie took this. Hawk YTL-153 has fine pedigree: in 1941, she was built and launched in Pearl Harbor and was present during the attack. Since 1980, she’s been based in Narragansett Bay, operated by Specialty Diving Services Inc. Do I see this correctly that she’s being operated from a topside helm? Here is Charles Ritchie’s project.
When I posted Brad Ickes’ photos a month back, I forgot to post the best shots of Cable Queen he had sent. I hope this makes amends for my having misplaced them.
The other day I noticed Cable Queen is docked back at her usual spot, nestled in a corner just west of the Moran dock.
These days there are photos everywhere of the salvage of incorrectly-ballasted RORO Golden Ray. This structure, as I understand it, incorporates both a saw and a lift. This photo and the next two come from Chris Roehrig. These photos from gCaptain are stunning. The yellow structure over the wreck is Versabar’s VB 10,000, a heavy lift vessel launched in 2010.
Moving the deck barge around with portion of the wreck are Crosby tugs, Crosby Star, a 4200 hp boat, below and
to the left. The real eye-catcher here is Kurt J Crosby, here alongside Crosby Leader. Kurt J, according to the company website, packs a whopping 16500 hp! Have a look at their photo of the 2000 build. Crobsy Leader, dwarfed and mostly obscured here, itself is rated at 15000 hp. Seeing these behemoths at work would almost make a trip down there worthwhile.
Jack Ronalds sent along these photos from Strait of Canso. It’s Calusa Coast and her
tank barge Delaware. They’ve spent some years working on the Great Lakes and are now returning
to salt water. They have returned to the sixth boro, where I photographed her 13 years ago, but I’ve not yet seen them this visit. For a treasure trove of Jack Ronalds/marine traffic photos, click here.
Getting back to that first photo, MV McArthur began life in 1965 as NOAAS McArthur (S330). She was decommissioned in 2003. In 2006 she was purchased by Blackwater USA (you’ve heard of them and their founder Eric Prince?) who offered it as a “warship for hire.” In the murk, Blackwater USA morphed into a series of other private security businesses. MV McArthur became Eaton while operated by Saracen International. At last record, the Norfolk VA vessel flew the flag of Comoros and was called Maandeeq, and since AIS showed her last in June 2019 in Bhavnagar district of Gujarat, India, just north of Alang, I don’t think she’s chasing pirates anymore.
For a crazy tangent, Gujarat is the 9th largest state in India by population. At 9th place (of 34), it has a population greater than Italy, South Korea, Spain, Poland, etc. It’s way larger than Canada, whose population is currently at 37 million. India’s largest state by population, Uttar Pradesh, is 200 million, which would make it the 8th largest country in the world by population, bigger than Russia, Mexico, Japan, etc . . . But I digress.
Many thanks to Timo, Charles, Brad, Chris, and Jack for sharing these photos.
Related: If you’ve not yet read Chris Maag’s story on NY sixth boro shipping, you can read it here, and enjoy the photos/video by Chris Pedota as well.
Yesterday I mentioned novelty. This is mid November in this part of the sixth boro. For outatowners, this photo looks eastward from Liberty Landing Marina (aka the Morris Canal) toward lower Manhattan. Mid november! And there are sailboat lessons happening. But the “whatzit” is SeatheCity, a boxy catamaran with scant rearview vision. Note the attitude of the vessel . . . attitude in an air/water craft technical sense.
See the black “water line.” See what happens as you follow that black stripe from stern to bow. She’s a bit down by the nose.
Earlier in the day I’d seen the boat at the dock.
I couldn’t quite figure out what its specialty was.
Platforms . . . flimsy ones, I wondered. Finally it came to me.
To my good fortune, I happened to be back at the marina later in the day to see the activity now happening there. It’s a startup, I believe, that launched during the pandemic!
It just goes to show . . . novelty is everywhere. Call me speechless. Here‘s the website. Other cities like Seattle and San Diego have variants. I guess the Dutch came up with the Hot Tub Hot Tug. I suppose these are manufactured versions of hot springs, which are open all year round.
All photos, reportage, WVD.
The smaller surprise was to see USCGC Beluga (WPB- 87325) traveling with speed from Sandy Hook into the Upper Bay.
I don’t believe I’ve seen Beluga before, although she looks identical to the 70+ Protector class 87′ boats named for marine predators. I didn’t realize that many marine predators existed, although once you start counting . . . they add up. More on parameters for replacing the WPBs here.
But what really surprised me was what Tony A mentioned about the blue/yellow vessel in the photo. Of course, it’s R/VShearwater, the Alpine Ocean Seismic Survey boat that’s been creating a complex bathymetric picture of parts of the sixth boro. I long thought she had an unusual design. What I hadn’t known is
that she’s former USCG WSES-3. WSES expands to “surface effects ships.” Hull 1 of the WSES series, WSES-1, was built for the US Navy as 110BH, then modified and became USCGC Dorado, then back to the USN as SES-200 Sea Flyer, then IX-515. That’s a lot of modification. More on that here (start near bottom of p 25) and here. For a photo of Shearwater, black hull and orange USCG stripe, click here. For her Alpine tech specs, click here.
All photos, WVD, who enjoys learning from surprises. Many thanks, Tony A.
About two months ago, CMA CGM Brazil called in the sixth boro. She’s one of four 15000 teu vessels, the largest ULCVs to date to call here. Recently, the next one visited, CMA CGM Mexico. Technically, her capacity is 15,128 teus.
I’ve stated this before: a vessel this size makes the boro’s largest assist tugs look small. In the photo below, notice that Brendan Turecamo‘s upright mast barely extends above the hull lettering.
If I heard the numbers right on the VHF, the ULCV had 42′ reaching toward the channel bed and just shy of 200′ reaching up toward the bridges, Bayonne and VZ.
Up close, she could be divided into the bow and bridge,
the midbody, and
the stern.
Note the small white fishing boat alongside just forward of the first tug.
All four Argentina-class ships are working; the first to arrive in NYC was the last to come off the ways. They were all built at Hyundai Samho Heavy Industry Shipyard, which would be a fascinating place to visit.
She stacks containers 20 across. Compare that with 16 across as the largest I saw here 10 years ago.
When the assistance with the curves from Port Elizabeth to Con Hook is complete, all four tugs cast off and return to the base.
Here‘s more on the Hyundai shipyard.
All photos, WVD.
By the way, the engine here is MAN 11G90ME-C with scrubbers, generating just over 92,000 horsepower. I’d love to know more.
Tony Acabono wrote me that he was confused, although maybe he was not.
As this approached and passed by, I was briefly confounded.
The shape reminded me immediately of a tidal power installation in the East River, which I’d written about here 12 years ago.
The three nodes of the structure on the barge are marked A, B, and . . . as you see . . . C.
I got out ahead of it. The main tug here is Harry McNeal, and alongside is Miss Julia. I’m not sure who owns Miss Julia.
A tidal strait, which the East River technically is, with tides in first one and then another direction, will spin these turbines and generate electricity. Winds may be variable and intermittent, but the tides never cease.
Verdant Power is the clue will get you much more info.
The three turbines/blades are fitted into a triangular structure, a TriFrame. It will be submerged in the East River as part of RITE, Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy project, as yet a pre-commercial operation. Materials and design are being tested.
And finally, from the Tideland Institute, Julia, Harry, and the turbines eastbound, like some low-flying albino birds, in the Buttermilk.
Read gCaptain’s take here.
And how would you imagine the Tri-Frame got lowered to the bottom?
Columbia specializes in lowering and raising.
This post reminds me of Whatzit 36 . . . from three and a half years ago.
Thanks to Tony, Tideland, and AC. Photos not credited to others by WVD, who’s repeatedly astonished by the sixth boro surprises and complexity.
This is the last Roundup I’ve attended. Here’s another shot from the swim platform, where I’m flat on my belly. That’s Mike Byrnes, last year’s “old man of the sea” at the portside of the wheelhouse.
Downbound in the Federal lock, it’s Waterford, Governor Cleveland, and Tender #3.
On the northbound trip, the two smaller tugs fell in alongside Grand Erie. Grand Erie is a 1951 build that first worked for the USACE in the Mississippi system.
Tug Buffalo heads for its berth beyond Pennsy 399 and Lehigh Valley #79, where
David Sharps bugle greets each vessel as it passes.
Lisa Ann was a newcomer that year, I believe. She was built at Marine Inland Fabricators, where the “new” canal tugs like Port Jackson have also been built.
Another newbie in 2015 was Solar Sal, a solar powered newbuild that actually transported cargo later in the season. Like Ceres the year before, these are prototypes, and like Ceres, Solar Sal transported this cargo.
Ever so salty, it’s Ben Grudinskas, captain and builder of Atlantic Hunter.
Here Atlantic Hunter faces off against the mighty Tender #3. By the way, Tender #3 is 43′ x 10′ and came off the ways in 1926!! 1926 . . . . 94 years ago.
It’s currently powered by a 220 hp Detroit Diesel.
In closing, the land activities include line toss, open to all comers, but won by the pros. I failed at the 15′ mark.
And I’ve not attended the Roundup since 2015, but unless I’m employed and on duty, I hope to make the 2021.
The 2010 post had a photo from 2009, so let me start this one with one from 2010. This photo made the cover of a NYS Restoration publication devoted to boats, but I lent my copy to someone and it’s never returned. If you know the publication, please let me know.
OK, let’s see one more from 2010, taken from the same bridge, but closer to the bank and less zoomed. Lots of folks come to these Roundups, but the number of working boats that can get there is decreasing because of increasing air draft and the inflexible 112th Street bridge, which also wiped out the viability of Matton shipyard.
The Roundup always begins with a parade, and that used to be always (in my times there) led by Urger.
Cornell and spawn named Augie waited on the wall in Troy.
Buffalo is now in Buffalo, and in less good condition. Here‘s more info on her. She’s 53′ x 16’ and worked for the Barge Canal from 1916 until 1973. Originally steam, she was repowered after WW2. See her engine, a Cooper Bessemer, running here back in 2007.
Wendy B was the show stealer in 2010. She looked good and no one I spoke with knew where she’d come from. She’s a 1940-build by Russel Brothers of Owen Sound ON, originally a steam tug called Lynn B. More info is here but you have to scroll.
8th Sea is a staple of the Roundup, probably has been since the beginning. She was built in 1953 at ST 2050 by American Electric Welding. That makes her a sister to ST 2062, now in the sixth boro as Robbins Reef, seen here if you scroll. Here‘s a tug44 description of tug and captain.
Small can still be salty, especially with this innovative propulsion . . . . Little Toot.
As I said, one of the traditions of the Roundup is that Urger leads the way. Here, above the federal lock, the boats muster. And traditions are important.
The active commercial boats line up at the wall nearest the Hudson River, but when a job needs doing, they head out.
Since the Roundup happens just below lock E-2 of the Erie Canal, the thoroughfare for the Great Loop, it’s not uncommon to see some long distance boats pass by. All I know about Merluza is that it’s the Spanish word for hake.
What happened to 2011 you may ask? Irene happened and the Roundup was cancelled. We’re indebted to tug44 for documenting the damage of that hurricane in the Mohawk Valley.
All photos, unless otherwise attributed, WVD.
Remember the post on the CMA CGM 14414s? How about the Wall of New York?
Below you are looking at 25,000 teu on the Maersk PLUS the CMA CGM vessels, Maersk 10k and CMA CGM 15k,
making this the largest ULCV yet to call in the sixth boro, CMA CGM Brazil. Brazil came off the ways earlier this year. The rest of the series will carry names including CMA CGM Argentina, Mexico, Panama, and Chile. Does Brazil have the special scrubbers? When will LNG catch on as fuel?
Hayward must have been the spectator vessel, but I didn’t get my invitation.
Maybe someone can opine on why James D. provided the tow moving astern? My supposition is that this configuration places the wheels farthest ahead of the tow, providing the dynamic equivalent of a longer lever, but that’s only a supposition.
James D. and Kirby worked in tandem, as opposite ends of the ship.
If my math is correct, 15,000 teus, if lined up end to end, would make 56.8 miles of containers. Big ship.
All photos, WVD, who wonders what is in all those boxes and of all that, what could not be made or grown in this country.
If you didn’t see her arrive, maybe you can catch her when she exits.
0545 at the Narrows . . . in the hazy days of summer . . . nothing beats it.
I had not come here just to beat the heat.
Surprisingly, Turecamo Girls (I believe) delivered the docking pilot.
Then she dropped back, to where one of the 6000s took the stern and
another the bow.
Only a couple hours into the day, another ULCV appeared in the offing . . .
Hyundai Drive, which sounds almost like a car ad framed as an order if you reverse the words . . . .
In the clearer light, you can clearly see Drive‘s crew asisting the docking pilot, boarding from Capt. Brian A.
For scale, notice the deckhand on the bow waiting . . .
. . .
for the messenger line.
To digress a bit, in July 2018 Hyundai Jupiter was in the sixth boro, and the company was still called Hyundai. On March 31, 2020, it rebranded itself as HMM. Jupiter, 1059′ loa, had a capacity of 10,000 teu.
In March 2013, Hyundai Grace, a 2007 build, had a capacity of 4571 teu on her 964′ hull.
In April 2009, Hyundai Voyager was in town . . . built in 2008 with the same dimensions as Grace.
So in a decade, typical Hyundai (HMM) vessels calling here have increasing carrying capacity by nearly 300%. If you consider HMM calling elsewhere, the increase has been greater than 500%.
All photos, WVD.
There’s something unusual about the vessel coming in with the assistance of Miriam Moran. See what it is?
Maybe I should say this vessel is a veritable unicorn. Thai script is unusual.
I read the Thai writing system is based on Old Khmer.
She draws a little over 20′ if I read this right.
The PSL expands to Precious Shipping Line, based in Bangkok. They operate 40 vessels, including 31 handysize, which includes Nalinee Naree. I don’t recall seeing another PSL vessel in the sixth boro.
Now you wouldn’t expect a Thai vessel to be registered in Majuro or Valetta or Monrovia, although . . . .
It’s the cargo stanchions that make this bulk carrier unusual. See above and below the rectangular structures around the outboard side of the deck. I’m quite sure she didn’t head into Port Newark to load logs, so they must be permanently installed. To see what can go wrong with the stanchions in rough weather, click here. According to this article, Nalinee Naree would therefore be called a logger.
All photos, WVD, who wrote about loggers once before here, albeit from the other side of the continent.
Happy August.
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