Retro Sixth Boro 58

February 2013 saw Patrick Sky still working in the boro. 

The walkway still flanked the west side of the Bayonne Bridge, which allowed images like the ones that follow. Sun Right and Suez Canal Bridge were regulars. Since then the 1993 Sun Right has been scrapped.  The 2002 Suez Canal Bridge continues to work under the name Suez Canal.   Container capacity for the two vessels comes in at 2205 and 5610, respectively. 

Winter 2013 saw these pipelines getting staged and buried across Bergen Point.  I believe they were these for natural gas, somewhat controversial at the time.  If so, it’s interesting to note the message here on “natural gas” compared with a shift in attitude that seems to be gaining traction.

It was the view of vessels rounding Bergen Point in the morning light I enjoyed the most back then. 

Let’s follow Sun Right around, here assisted by Ellen McAllister and Marjorie B. McAllister. Out below, that’s Shooters Island, Port Ivory, and Elizabethport in the distance.

 

The benefit of the lower bridge was 

proximity to the vessel and 

crew.  Obviously, that proximity was also its drawback; the global fleet increased in size and air draft with the obvious impediment to container ship traffic in the boro.  

I recall the crew below seemed eager to have their photos taken.  I wonder where these guys are, a decade on.   See the whole series differently here. 

All photos in early February 2013. 

Random Tugs 337

Because the name and focus of this blog is tugster, you’d expect to see a lot of tugboats, both within the confines of New York harbor, aka the REAL sixth boro, and I hope you are satisfied that you find a plethora of tugboats in installments of this blog.  So here’s Random Tugs #337, post 4877, and the tugboat is Foxy 3 moving an aggregate scow.

In the foreground, it’s Crystal Cutler;  off in the distance it’s Normandy.

Diane B here heads east with a cargo in John Blanche.  I did an article on this unit some years back.

Joyce D. Brown pushes an empty scow east.  Notice anything on the scow that identifies it?  See the end of this post.

James E. Brown passed sister Joyce D. that morning in the Kills.

Franklin Reinauer that morning may or may not have been under control of the author of a tugboat captain who shared his tales a few years back.  I will stay mum. Off to the left, that’s Capt. Brian A. McAllister.

HMS Liberty muscled a barge full of bunkers to deliver to a thirsty ship over in New Jersey.

Centerline operates both Liberty above and HMS Justice below.

Susan Miller moves some material and equipment over to the project just west of the St. George ferry terminal.

Brendan Turecamo heads over to the next and the next and the next job.

Bruce A. McAllister assists a container ship into port.

Bergen Point came off the ways at Blount Shipbuilding way back in 1958.

So that scow Joyce was pushing above is called Maria and

this logo says it was once in the Disch fleet, now sold off in many directions.

All photos, WVD.

Random Tugs 307

Larry J. Hebert has been in the boro a few months, following a GLDD dredging project. She’s from 1981 and rated at 3600 hp.

She headed eastbound in the KVK here with a fair amount of wire out, it seems to me.

Helen Laraway, light, heads west.  She’s the oldster here, 1957, and 2000 hp.

Bergen Point, 1958 and 600 hp,  heads east

and ducks behind an Evergreen ship.

Kristy Ann, the youngster in this batch, launched in 2018, and 4560 hp, left her barge in the anchorage and came in . . . to check in a the yard on Richmond Terrace.

James William, 2007 and 2800 hp,  brings two light scows out of the Kills.

and gave the photographer, I believe, a friendly whistle.

Virginia passes by, the first time in an age that I’ve seen her.  She’s from 1979 and generates 1400 hp.

And Genesis Vision makes an impressive turn in front of Caddells.  She’s a 1981 boat with 3000 hp of push.

All photos, WVD, who is solely responsible for any errors.

 

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.

 

Leaning Out

“Leaning out” is the layperson term that comes to mind, but I’m supposing a technical and standardized term exists:  indirect towing.

Let’s watch the evolution with Capt. Brian and OOCL Berlin. At 12:01, the line is slack.

12:02. As the tow approaches Bergen Point, line is tightened and

by 12:04, the line lengthened, and the tug appears to be headed in a diametrically opposite direction, in spite of OOCL Berlin‘s much larger mass.

Capt. Brian is now using the hull as a brake.

 

Three other tugs are working alongside the ship.

A different day, Capt. Brian is working on Gjertrud Maersk using the same technique.

 

 

All photos and conjecture on the language by Will Van Dorp.   Here’s one of my sources.  I hope someone corrects or confirms my understanding here.

 

Weather 10

Here are previous weather posts, and although today the sixth boro and surrounding land masses are experiencing the first serious snowfall this season, this post is not about that.  Rather, it’s about something I saw and felt yesterday, when it was 65 degrees F for a few midday hours.  65!!

So here was the weather phenomenon photo taken at 0834.  I take it that’s a squall line, but it seemed so isolated.

Here was the scene at 0826.  CMA CGM Amber headed into Port Elizabeth with JRT on the stern quarter.  Tomorrow I’ll have more Moran photos.  Notice how clear and calm it was right at the bridge, although Elizabethport seems enveloped in some mist.

0827 . . . shows HMS Justice in that mist.

So here I repeat the 0834 photo of that line moving rapidly in my direction.

Here’s 0840 and

below,  0841, as Jonathan C escorted CMA CGM Georgia around Bergen Point to Port Eliz.  Notice the dull finish on the Bayonne Bridge, since that squall line has obscured the morning sun at my back.  The temperature also dropped noticeably.

At 0846, besides Jonathan C, we can now see (l to r) Jennifer Turecamo with barge Portland, James D., and Miriam.

By 0922 my back was nicely warmed by the sun again, with the temperatures heading to a blue sky 65 in February, although Elizabeth seemed still misted in.

All photos taken on February 8 by Will Van Dorp.  Did anyone else see and feel this front move through?

 

Random Tugs 180

Random means random, and I challenge you to come up with a more random set . . .

Let’s start with a Gmelin photo from 1930.  I’ll give the name of the tug later in this post so that all experts of arcane sixth boro history can play.  Since today is the V-Day, let me mention that Herbert Hoover was POTUS, and not very popular at that time, post-crash, in spite of his 1928 campaign slogan “A Chicken in Every Pot and a Car in Every Garage.”  Well, that did not work out so well.  A few things impress me about Hoover though, like . . . in what language would he and the First Lady–Lou–converse privately when guests were in the White House.  By the way, why is the 2nd Tuesday in November Election Day?  Answers at the end of this post.

Here’s a photo from my archives, Surrie Moran (2000 built) assisting with a big south-bound Crowley barge El Rey (1979) in June 2013 on the Delaware River.  I was shooting against the morning sun.   You see a little of Cape Henry (1967) on the stern also.   Any guesses which Crowley tug was towing?

And another photo from 2013, January,  in the KVK.  It’s Rebel, built 1976, with her odd hull.  Is she now scrapped?

So now a few from the past week . . . James D. Moran (2015) passes the KV buoy heading for the North River.

Genesis Victory (from 1981) heads into the Kills.

The 2002 Labrador Sea comes in from somewhere out east.

And over on a waterway I don’t get to see that often, I stumbled onto the 1940 Ireland,

1958 Bergen Point, and

the 1947 basic Harbor II.

And since a lot of things are cyclical, we’re back at the mystery tug.

With my magnifying glass, I read enough to make me think this is Richard J. Barrett, which would have been 11 years old in 1930.  Here’s Birk’s info. The ship is the 1925-launched MS Gripsholm, significant as the first transAtlantic liner powered by a diesel engine.

And Hoover and his wife spoke Mandarin for their secret asides when guests were in earshot.  I’m impressed.

And towing El Rey, here’s Sentry  (1977).

And we have our 19th century agrarian roots to thank for the 2nd Tuesday being election day . .  . here.

 

 

Random Tugs 149

In the seldom-seen category, let’s start with Pegasus and Delta Fox.

Ditto Vulcan III.

Amy Moran light.

How often do you see Bergen Point pushing a crane barge?

Or Sarah Ann pushing a scow past the Hospital for Special Surgery?

or a stern-on Larry J. Hebert from the Port of LaRose, town of the crossroads?

James William southbound at the Statue as Indy photobombs  . . .

and finally . . . first view for me of Sea Fox, ex-Kathleen, Doyle, Cherokee Eagle, Chris B. Boudreaux, Ledger, and Ann L.

All photos by Will Van Dorp.

Random Tugs 128

Bergen Point, a 1958 Blount product,  coming through the Narrows last weekend.  Click here for many interesting vessels from Blount that have appeared on this blog.

And a first timer on this blog . . . John Parrish.

Penn No. 4 all painted white . . . click here and scroll through to see her in PennMaritime gray.

Bluefin . .  still in PennMaritime gray . . . or is that primer?

Maryland . . . with reflections.

If my search window serves me right, then this is the first appearance of Katie G. McAllister on this blog.

This is definitely the first appearance of Pelican State here.  The photo of this Great Lakes Dredge & Dock boat is here thanks to Mike and Michele Mcmorrow.

And thanks to Mage, here’s Esti and

Cerro Jefe.

A previous view here  of Emily Ann had her as Solomon Sea.

Brian Nicholas at work in Great Kills.  Click here (scroll through) to see her as both Banda Sea and Brian Nicholas.

And finally . . . it’s the mystery tug Elbe when it was Maryland Pilot boat Maryland.  At its stern is its predecessor, Baltimore.  I haven’t found out much about Baltimore.  Any help?  About Maryland, Capt. Brian Hope–who shared this photo, said this, “In 1985 and MARYLAND was donated to Greenpeace.  She was a great boat, but too expensive to operate. She had a crew of 18, plus a chief steward.  The crew worked two weeks on and two weeks off, so that, counting the steward, we had a total of 37 crew.   When we went ashore that was reduced to about 21 and our fuel, repair and food costs dropped dramatically as well.   I am very glad to see that she has been preserved (in Maassluis).  She’s a great boat!”  Thanks to a generous reader, here’s an article about her sea trials.

When next I post, I hope to share photos Elbe in her restored glory.

Sorry to miss NYC’s fleet week again.

Rounding Bergen Point 1

That bit of land on the upper right of the foto is Bergen Point.  The shadow I hope you recognize as my favorite bridge, and the Sunday morning light plays with the water, bridge, and the pinkish

bulbous bow.

Here, at 10:14 the tug is 1967-built Charles D. McAllister, featured in countless posts in my archive.  Note the boxes on deck of fastening hardware

to keep the stacked containers securely lashed together.

Note Charles D. again, as it assists the 902′ loa x 105′ Zim San Francisco in rounding Bergen Point.   In the distance on this side of Shooter’s Island, a yellow-fronted Vane unit stands off.

Behold the nostril!

Complementing Charles D.’s effort, it’s Maurania III starboard stern quarter.

Zim San Francisco rounds safely despite the general gustiness.  Once a safe rounding is confirmed,

10:21 a.m.  Charles D. spins around, racing back to the west end of the KVK to assist the next vessel westbound under the Bayonne Bridge, while Brendan Turecamo heads over to the Arthur Kill for an assist there.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.

Footnote:  last Sunday I took fotos of APL Indonesia as it exited the east end of the KVK for sea.  Last night . . . i.e., seven days later, I took this “screen grab” of the same vessel standing off the Panamian port of Colon waiting to enter Manzanillo port!!