Other Peoples Photos 84

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.

 

 

Other Peoples Photos 83

This series I use to feature others’ photos that are different from what I typically shoot, different in either location or perspective or subject.  I am very grateful to you, readers,  when you send these photos in.

David Silver sent this in just yesterday, taken in Norfolk.

Down in Norfolk, Mike Vinik and Rhino had just finished a tow there, and stopped by David’s workplace. I visited Vinik No. 6, Mike, and Rhino earlier this year, although it seems several years ago now. In case you’re wondering, Rhino weighs in at a trim 140 pounds.

Xlime promenaded along the East River  in Brooklyn the other day and saw some sights.   She writes:  “I happened upon three Brown tugs this morning – Thomas, who’s always so picturesque and the mighty James and Joyce (a literary pairing) who I’ve seen together twice now bringing reinforcements to the piers project in Brooklyn Bridge Park. I happened to be on Pier 3 this morning when they pulled up. Okay, maybe I doubled back when I realized where they were going. “

I’d never thought about the literary ring of these names. 

 

A few (2013!!) years ago Brad Ickes sent me photos of Cable Queen.   Recently she was hauled out and here are the photos he sent.  Brad writes:  “Queen was just cleaned up, repainted and made pretty again.”

 

Pretty she is, and I still hope some day catching her at work.

 

 

One more here . . . although I found this on youtube . . .  a streaming music/light show on Bannerman’s Island, coming up in a few days.  Tickets are available now. 

And a last one, survey vessel Shearwater was working at the Narrows the other day.  Her track on AIS illustrates what she was doing.

Many thanks to David, xlime, and Brad for use of these photos.

Retro Sixth Boro 21

I have represented these “retro” posts as a slice of the sixth boro exactly a decade ago, but it more like  . . . what in the boro caught my attention.  So welcome back to December 2009, as seen from today, December 2019, taking advantage of 20/20 hindsight.  And, to digress, I’ll bet the term 20/20 [2020?] hindsight will seen a bit strange in the next thirteen months.

Over at South Street Seaport, a group of vessels then is no longer there: Marion M, Peking, and Helen McAllister.  Of those, Peking, though not the oldest, has the longest and most convoluted saga.

Sea Raven is no more, but with those high pipes, she always caught my attention.

Cable Queen seemed to have a future back a decade ago, but naught seems to have come of it, since last time I looked, she was still docked in Port Richmond.  For context to this photo of the 1952 vessel, click here.

NY Central No. 13, scrapped in 2017 . . . also seemed to have a future back in 2009, although the owner was not in a rush to complete the job.

In 2009, the sixth boro was in the midst of a several-billion-dollar dredge project, as folks were talking about these ULCVs that would be arriving after the opening of the new Panama Canal locks. GLDD’s dredge New York was part of that effort.

I don’t know if Volunteer is still intact, but I’ve not seen her in years.   Here she lighters Prisco Ekatarina while Mark Miller stands by.  As of this writing, Prisco Ekatarina is in the Gulf of Finland.

Does anyone know if Horizon Challenger, built 1968 in Chester PA,  still floats?

Patriot Service currently works as Genesis Patriot.

I believe Escort is laid up.

And let’s close with these two.  Below it’s the now modest looking Ever Divine and Tasman Sea, and assembling photos for this post, for the first time I see the Taz’ devil sign on the stern of Tasman Sea . . .   Maybe I’d seen it before and just forgotten.   Ever Divine is currently crossing the Indian Ocean.

There it is . . .

All photos taken in December 2009 by Will Van Dorp.

 

Port Richmond

November, port month on tugster, ends here, making this GHP&W 30.  Here’s how the month began.  One thing I learned putting together this post is that Port Richmond and Mariner’s Harbor appear not to share a border, at least according to the wikipedia map.  Between the western edge of Port Richmond and the eastern edge of Mariner’s (the west side of the Bayonne Bridge) is a neighborhood called Elm Park.  I’d never heard of it.  Also, look at the northeast tip of Port Richmond . . . it’s in the water only and includes the Caddell yard.  Furthermore, Port Richmond never seems like much of a port if you see it by road only.  Click here for photos of the land portion of Port Richmond.  Click on the map to make it interactive.

A google satellite view shows the northernmost margin of land is port-intensive.  Click here for many vintage photos of Port Richmond, pre-Bayonne Bridge, back when Port Richmond was a major ferry/rail link.

Although the late fall midday sun backlit these shots, let’s cruise the waterside of Port Richmond, starting at its northeastern point, where the Wavertree (1885) project is ongoing.

Delaware River & Bay Authority’s Delaware is undergoing some major repowering work. 

Frying Pan . . . light of the night vessel from up at Pier 66 is having some work done.

In the belly of Frying Pan, where the engine and machinery used to be, a night club sometimes comes to life.    Click here for some renderings of the vessel by the elusive bowsprite.

Miss Liberty, built 1954, is nearly finished with this dry-docking.  Notice here she is high and dry?  Well, just 45 minutes later, she had been

splashed and was being towed to a wharf by Caddell’s own L. W. Caddell (1990).

Continuing to the west, it’s the yards of Reinauer and Moran. From l to r, here, it seems to be Meredith C. Reinauer (2003), Laurie Ann Reinauer (2009), Reinauer Twins (2011), and Dace Reinauer (1968 but JUST repowered). . . and Joan Turecamo with (?) Brendan Turecamo.  The McAllister tug between the Reinauer ATBs . . . I’ll guess is Bruce A. Marjorie B. McAllister.

This photo, taken a half hour earlier and before Joan Turecamo (1980) tied up, shows Kimberly Turecamo (1980), the very new and beamy  J. R. T. Moran (2015), and Brendan (1975).

On the west side of the Moran yard, it’s Cable Queen (1952).  Click here for photos of this cable-layer at work through the years.

And for the last shot of Port Richmond–although this may be straying westward into Elm Park waters, it’s Metropolitan Marine Transportation’s newest Normandy.

All the photos today by Will Van Dorp.

So as I said at the beginning of this post, so ends the “gunk holes, harbors, ports, and wharves” series.  However, precedent on this blog makes it really easy to do a Port Richmond 2, 3, 4 . . . . etc. post.  also, if any of you feel like contributing a set of photos from a port of gunk hole, no matter how large or obscure, I welcome it.  Besides, there’s always then possibility of doing an “upland” version of any port, focusing on land-based businesses serving the work vessels.

And as for December, let me reprint this idea for a December theme:

How about  antique/classic workboats, functioning or wrecked.  Of course, a definition for that category is impossible.  For example, NewYorkBoater says this:  ‘The definition of an antique boat according to Antique and Classic Boating Society is a boat built between 1919 and 1942.  A classic was built between 1943 and 1975 and the term contemporary, are boats built from 1976 and on.’  Hmm . . . what do you call an old vessel built before 1919 . . . a restoration project?  antediluvian?

If you take another transportation sector–automobiles, you get another definition:  25 years old or more.    And for the great race, here were the rules for this year:  “Vehicle entries must have been manufactured in 1972 or before.”  Next year’s cut-off will likely be 1973.

So my flexible definition is  . . . photo should have been taken in 1999 or before, by you or of you or a family member, and in the case of a wreck, probably identifiable.  Exception . . .  it could be a boat built before  . . . say  . . . 1965.”

Many thanks to all of you who sent along photos, contributed ideas, and commented in November.

Cable Queen

Many thanks to Brad Ickes, who recently contacted me with some info about this vessel shown above, a one-0ff launched at Luders Shipyard in Stamford in 1952, their first ever steel vessel.    Like me, you may have seen her–seemingly always docked just west of the Moran building on the KVK.   Note the large spool on the foredeck and the intentional bow shape.

Her hull looks like that of a tug, although the deck equipment points to her intended work:  submarine cable laying, and if you notice the pennant . . . for New York Telephone.   Click here for info and a front page photo in a 1970 newspaper.   I’m guessing the foto below dates from her first arrival in the sixth boro of NYC.

Here’s an undated foto of Cable Queen at work.

Also, from Brad of OCG, here are some fotos of the vessel during a haul-out, showing the shallow draft

and recessed wheels that are not characteristic of most tugboats.

Here’s another undated foto of Cable Queen at work laying cable.

I took the fotos below back in December 2009.

Click here for this Cable Queen info and many more cable ships.  …here . . . for fotos of older Bell system equipment, including an older Cable Queen.  Here, from the Troy Record is a 1967 article about the vessel and crew working upriver at that time AND a foto of its master, William J. Fry of Staten Island.

Many thanks to Brad Ickes of OCG for reaching out with these fotos.

Will Van Dorp, who took the last two fotos, is alone responsible for any errors in interpretation.  I will be  hitting the road–with all its detours and other opportunities for side-gallivants– northeast-bound tomorrow.  If I can’t post then, happy, safe, and prosperous 2014.

Views of Outerbridge

Answer to yesterday’s TugsterTeaser:  that BIG tall ship is NOT Peking, which didn’t arrive in the sixth boro until late 1975. Answer is Moshulu, mentioned in the wikipedia site, although if you look at the Moshulu site, it appears she went directly from Finland to Philadelphia.  Does anyone remember how long she stayed at South Street Seaport?

Background below: Outerbridge, named for Eugenius H. Outerbridge, first chairman of the Port Authority of New York.  Foreground:  That’s for you to ponder a bit.  Info later.

What unifies the fotos in this post is the background . ..  all show a hint of Outerbridge.   Inspiration here comes from Hokusai and his 36 views of Mt Fuji, one print of which–Great Wave–everyone knows, just about.

Foreground:  Cable Queen.  What is her story, anyone?  For as long as I’ve been watching, she’s been moored just north of the Moran yard on KVK.

Twin props, shallow draft.  Did she get to the yard under her own power?

And the floating clubhouse aka the honorable William Wall (rope maker, US Representative, Williamsburg politician mid-nineteeth century, and who knows what else) also no longer floats for the season.

Elka Nikolas, Croatia-built,  heads for sea.

The elegant Little Bear awaits in the bridge’s shadow earlier in the fall.

and a Coast Guard 40′ comes back to life.

ATB Pati R Moran heads north on the Arthur Kill under the bridge.

Foreground:  Rae (ex-Miss Bonnie) waits her turn.  The blue tug is Ron D. Garner, and the bridge, background.

Scrapped vessels, now disintegrated, await a rise in scrap ferrous metal prices.

Which leads back to this foto, showing the Outerbridge in the background.  The year is 1964, and this is one of several thousand Liberty ships, and  she’s waiting here to be

scrapped.  Anyone know the name?  I don’t but I’d love to.  Foto comes from the Bob McClaren collection via Allen Baker.

All other fotos by Will Van Dorp.  If I wanted to mirror Hokusai’s 36 views, I guess I need 26 more shots.  Well, another time, different angles.  Or better yet, if you’re on the Arthur Kill, take some unusual shots with the Outerbridge as background and please send them along.

Postively Posterior

Lord Byron’s poem “She walks in Beauty” might eventually be parodied  rather updated in this post.  If you’ll click on this link, you’ll get the entire poem AND a Botticelli Venus.  I admit I had a long discussion with Botticelli about this work while he was creating it:  have her turn around, I pleaded.  Oh well.  I long ago gave up trying to argue with Sandro’s about anything.   Meanwhile, seeing how bows got us to Dolly Parton, who knows how an examination of sterns might lead, how it could descend . . . or rise.

The name’s the thing sometimes like here or

here:  behold ex-Jaguar.

Sure, it’s  fuel barge bow but a survey stern.

Look upon ex-Exxon Empire State.  Why is Responder on recycling duty so much?

uh . . . ?  Anyone help?  [Thanks to Jeff and James:  Psara meaning “of fish.”]

Check out Doris Moran and Cable Queen.  Anyone know the Cable Queen story?

Catch a glimpse of Ruth M. Reinauer, class of 2009.

Drool over John J. Harvey.  By the way, to learn more about this legendary fireboat, come hear author Jessica DuLong read at Atlantic Gallery on October 21, or read her book My River Chronicles.  I immensely enjoyed it.

Relish the lines on what for 40ish years has been the sixth boro’s very own mostly stay-at-home some of the time flat-bottom, Pioneer.

Marvel at Maryland, as she wonders about this island.  Yeah, and wanders about it, too.

Oh . . . posteriors.  Send in your favorite.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.

By the way, Patricia Ann bounced me around quite a bit, I hung on, but I haven’t seen her since.

From the Line Locker 9

I last used this title a half year ago.  I claim no relationship between the fotos other than they were all taken on the sixth boro within the past week or so.

First, a poor quality but intriguing foto of MSC Aniello, a container ship, bound for sea with nary a container above the deck.  Who knows what she carried below?  The white cranes are a mile beyond the vessel in the port of Bayonne.  Does one need a better indicator of economic slowdown?  Aniello as canary in the coal mine?

You may once have ridden in these subway cars now bound for a new life as a reef somewhere offshore.  Click here to read an overheard romance post I wrote about reefing last August.

Check this out as tandem tugging:  Clyde in foreground lashed to Harry McNeal, (to use one of my newest favorite phrases), the yin and yang of indie tugs.

The foto below shows the Mohawk River at Rotterdam Junction, where Onrust may tomorrow splash.  Cross fingers;  hope to post on this tomorrow.

Another poor quality foto taken of Cable Queen just west of the Moran yard in the KVK.  Anyone know her story?

Finally here’s a closer foto of 1930 Elco motor yacht Justice westbound on the East river alongside Roosevelt Island.  I saw Justice last October, but thinking it the replica Manhattan, I didn’t take a foto until it was quite a distance off.

All fotos, Will Van Dorp.