Welcome Comfort 1

At 0900 and a few minutes, USNS Comfort arrived at the Narrows.  Ava M was one of six McAllister units meeting her there to assist.

USACE, NYPD, and other agencies saw her in as well.

, 

She passed the USCG station and

 

and the old hospital complex.

Another USNS vessel in the port was Watkins.

From this point off Bayonne, we’ll pick up the story tomorrow.

All photos, WVD.

Tale of Two Tugboats 3

Following on yesterday’s comparison . . . two more tugboats, both active but with entirely different missions . . . I offer for your perusal, key word . . . perusal.

Thomas J. Brown, built 1962 and 60’x 19′ with hull depth of 8′, has a single CAT generating 1000 hp.

Ava M McAllister, christened in 2019 and 100′ x 40′ with a hull depth of 22′, has twin CAT mains generating 6770 hp.

The comparison is ludicrous from a performance perspective;  as I said before, they have entirely different missions.  Some comparisons here would make as little sense as pitting a pro stock race car against a top fuel machine . . .  but those are both drag strip cars.  Here’s another . . . compare a Grand National hydroplane with a Jersey Speed Skiff; they’re both race boats and not landing craft, both well-maintained and precision built for speed within defined parameters.  Likewise, above you’re looking at two tugboats, both of which are working boats in the sixth boro.

All photos, WVD, who’s learned the joys of hand washing.

Here’s another interesting comparison and why I said perusal:  Peru, South America with Peru, Indiana, North America with all the other Perus in the US.

 

 

Assists 10

Tightrope?

 

This ULCV shows 17 containers across.

It’s a bit surprising to see a Moran 6000 on starboard bow, also on a “tight rope.”

YM Evolution . . . without counting the rows of containers, does it look less beamy?

It is  . . . 15 across.  By contrast, CMA CGM Amerigo Vespucci, the other day here, carries 20 across.

All photos, WVD.

 

Pairs in Winter 7

This series goes way back to 2007, when I erroneously thought a song existed called “Paris in springtime.”  My deciding it must be a faux memory did not prevent me from doing a bunch more posts, with variations like “pairs in winter,” like today’s posts.  It still is winter.  And there is a movie with a somewhat similar name;  a fun trailer can be seen here.

Let’s start with Sarah Ann and Thomas E. pairing up to get a crane off to Sims.

 

Ellen and Ava team up to see a small container vessel into the kills.

 

Meagan Ann and Emily Ann each bring a scow for the filling, likely with scrap?

 

And for a variation, a mixed triad of Margaret, Alex, and Ava return from assists.

All photos, WVD, who wishes you happy springish late winter and successful social separations.

 

 

2020 Calendar March

Here’s the photo I considered using on the March calendar page and taken about five seconds before the one I did use.  On March 9, 2019 at 0726 . . . I love the light here, but the tug seemed too small to be the subject on a calendar page.  I do love the purple skyline against the orange sky.  Color aficionados might describe the outline of buildings with words like mauve and carrot with traces of grapefruit and squash fading into hints of cyan.  I like the glint of sunrise on the port side of Alex, likely returning from an assist.

In July 2019, I caught the next two of Alex, assisting CMA CGM Otello outbound for sea.  Note the design differences between Alex and Capt. Brian A. off her stern.  The 4300 hp Alex was launched in 1985 and spent her first five years assisting submarines for Electric Boat.  She then was sold and worked in Puerto Rico and Florida until 2008, when she was sold to a Maine company. McAllister bought her in 2012, and I believe I first saw her in the sixth boro in 2017.  Capt. Brian A. McAllister arrived here in 2017 and brings 6770 hp to the job.

 

In these November 2019 photos,

Alex and Ava M assist Arthur Maersk in rounding Bergen Point.

All photos, WVD.

Unrelated here, but followup to the No.11Asomaru post of a few days ago, it has happened again.  Sunday evening AIS showed a Tiong Woon Ocean 17 signal coming into the sixth boro, escorted by two Moran 6000s and

following or coinciding with MOL Paradise heading here into Global in Bayonne.   Lucien’s comment the other day seems to explain this .  . a glitch . . . but since this is the third tme I’ve seen this, I wonder how common it really is and whether others have noticed it.  As of 0500 this morning, Tiong and Paradise left for Savannah, and as of posting, she was off Ocean City NJ, appearing as a gray signal.   Tiong Woon Corporation (TWC) is a Sri Lankan holding company with tugboats, but no #17.

Here’s the one I saw last year;  anyone who knows Port Elizabeth, shown, knows that Oat, IMO 9291630, a tanker 800′ x 137′ , would not be at that berth and atop the container ship there.

Is this corrupted signal a frequent occurrence?  Is this evidence of colliding or commingling parallel universes?

Random Tugs 280

Want to check out Random Tugs 001?  The  001 got added more recently than 2007 because back then,  I had no idea I’d go on.  In the 2007 photo, might that be Mary Turecamo along with the Reinauer tugs, which are also still at work operating out of the sixth boro.  The other morning Mary Turecamo was assisting MSC Maria Elena  . . . . The tugboat has always been known by that name.

The many times renamed and reconfigured Brooklyn approaches from . . .. Brooklyn.  I first saw her as Labrador Sea.

Brendan Turecamo, also renamed a number of times,  takes the back channel out the Kills.  That’s Bayonne in the background and a crane in Port Elizabeth beyond that.

Catching Genesis Eagle out of the notch is a treat.  The third photo here shows a photo of the same boat as Eagle Service in roughly the same place a decade ago, although I was catching the opposite perspective.

 

It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen this particular Mary Gellatly moving around the sixth boro, but here she is, and I  recognize the man with a camera between the wheelhouse and the stacks.

She was previously Vernon C, as in the top two photos here.

Dory is another boat that has changed hands and names and appearances.  See her here . . .  if you scroll.

Dory appears to be working with a Harley barge alongside a ship, bunkering ? . . . Kitikmeot W.

And let’s conclude with one of the newest boats in the harbor . . .  Ava M McAllister, here returning from escorting a c-ship out toward the Narrows.   Click here for photos from her christening half a year ago.

All photos, Will Van Dorp.

 

Random Tugs 273

I’m always on the look out for new tugboats in the harbor, and Camie mostly fits that bill.  A bit of research, though, finds she’s been on the blog a few times already, however.

Here, l to r, it’s Polar Bright, Ava, New York, and Stephen B.

Robert Burton here is tending a rock scow in front of the very busy Bayonne background.

James Brown moves some scrap barges . . . likely in the direction of the East River.

Weddell Sea stands by with Penn No. 90, demonstrating all the components of “push gear.”

Maybe someone can clarify here, but it appears No. 90 has cargo heating gear.

 

Helen Laraway moves a scow toward a morning.

And Fort Schuyler heads straight for us–I’m zoomed in–away from a marine/industrial Brooklyn background.

For the last day of November 2019, all photos by Will Van Dorp.

And finally, click here for Paul Strubeck’s Vintage Diesel Design blog post on tugboat Luna in Boston.  It expands a post I did on Luna here almost four years ago.

 

Rounding Bergen Point 6

Here are the previous posts in the series.

The bow of the ship, the park, and Newark International tower could establish the location, as could

the stern of the ship and the signage on the bridge lower right.

How many tugboats do you spot?  What do you now about them and the ship from colors and livery?

How near are the tugboats one from the other?

Here’s a digression . . . two models of shipping in 2019.

Here’s exactly the same shot.  Here‘s the info on Arthur Maersk.

Alex here appears to be mirroring the forward motion of Arthur, while simultaneously pulling her to starboard and in the channel.  I’m sure the folks who do this might have other words and other descriptions of what is happening here.

Meanwhile, Ava (rhymes with Java) pushes on the stern, and

compared with photos 3 and 4 above, notice how far apart along the starboard side of Arthur the two tugboats are.  And the fishing boat, just to the left of the red buoy, is several hundred feet off.

Alex continues force along the same vector.

All photos and words by Will Van Dorp, whose admiration for this oft-repeated maneuver around Bergen Point hasn’t diminished.

 

Congestion 4

A harbor, different parts of it, can be a crowded place.  Here are some previous posts called “congestion.”

Kyoto Express left first, after my arrival, passing some icons during her exit.

Ever Legion departed next, leaving the US-flagged Overseas Key West at the dock.

 

Seroja Enam, ex-APL Poland, was arriving but being followed.

Meeting them was Stolt Sea, escorted by Margaret Moran.

 

 

Grande New York followed closely behind.

Note all the docked vessels out beyond the Bayonne Bridge.

Grande New York, a relatively new vessel, was launched the same year as the ill-fated Golden Ray, now being scrapped down south.

All photos by Will Van Dorp.

 

Random Tugs 270

Here’s another calendar’s worth . . . starting with Josephine.  I have many more of this bot coming up soon.

Capt. Brian heads out through the Narrows to meet a tow.

Cape Lookout returns for her anchored barge.

Nathan G delivers a brace of scows.

Ava M heads out for a job.

The “new” Kristin Poling returns to her barge as well.

Ellen and Bruce A follow a job.

St Andrews heads east and

Ernest Campbell, west.

Challenger, some weeks ago, brings a Weeks crane up for a lift.

Stephen B has some additions to her paint job since last I saw her.

CMT Pike heads back across the Upper Bay.

All photos by Will Van Dorp, who can’t believe it’s already mid-November 2019!!