From the Line Locker 27

Here’s a photo from a friend who works for a naval architecture firm.  Guess the function of the completed vessel below.

Here’s a rendering.

To the gentleman from New Zealand from the William C. Daldy Preservation Society who recently inquired about functioning steam tugboats in the US, I can’t think of any.  Can any reader here?  Here and here can get you info on steamer Daldy.  And all that smoke was photoshopped in, I was told.

Christiaan Brunings was built in 1900 as an icebreaker home-ported in Dordrecht NL, in the Rhine delta.  She survived two world wars that happened all around her.  I took this photo in Dordrecht in 2014.  For more photos of smoky Dutch steam tugs, click here.

If coal was the fuel of the past, then wind will make up a share of an increasingly harnessed renewable sources of energy.  Susie S was at the the Damen Den Helder yard back in 2014, same trip.

Even more variety is  here, the reason I put this post in the “line locker” group . . .   tugs on the highway . . .

and the boat ramp, and

sometimes nearly getting away . . .  once they enthusiastically take to water.  Well that tug, formerly know as Atlantic Hunter has changed hands and is now Little Giant.  Neptune himself was consulted about the deal and he approved.  Keep your eyes peeled.

And further rounding out this post . . .  On July 14, 2017, Peking was floated out of Caddells by the tagteam of Dorothy J and Robert IV to

be slipped onto the back of Combi-Dock III for transit over the Atlantic.  See the full story here.  Today, September 7, 2020, it arrives fully restored at its new museum in the port of Hamburg.

After more than three years of work, Peking will be arriving here today.  The FB site is shown there. If you don’t do FB, I have permission to copy some pics and paste them in a future blog post.  To the Hafenmuseum, where I wanted to be today . . .  Herzlichen Glückwunsch zur schönen Restaurierung!

Back to those first two images, that is a state-of-the-art Russian factory trawler called Captain Sokolov, one of six identical vessels being built at the St. Petersburg Northern Shipyard.  Here’s more on the design of these vessels with a capsule hull.  Dimensions are 268′ x 51′ with a cold storage capacity of 1200 metric tons. Here’s more on Norebo.  The design is by Knarr Maritime Consortium of Iceland.

The first two images thanks to Aleks, number 3 is from seapixonline, and the others, WVD.  Many thanks to Rembert for reminding me that today is the day Peking in Hamburg goes public.

Finally . . . it’s Labor Day, which I learned is a good day to work.  But if you want to stream some good music on a Labor Day theme, try this from Bread and Roses, where I used to go when I lived in the Merrimack Valley of MA.

 

 

Combi Dock III & Peking Saga 5

or . . . the final installment from the west side of the Atlantic .  .  .  and I’ll use (what I imagine as) NASA times here, but I’ll modify it from “t-minus” to “U–as in underway” minus and plus.

So, at U minus 53 minutes, there’s a man-basket dangling off the portside.

U minus 48 . . .  a crew boat arrives with the pilot.

U minus 37 . . .

the pilot boards Combi-Dock III,

U minus 9, the crew boat, Nicholas Miller,  departs  . . ., likely off to deliver three technicians departing Combi-Dock III.

Judging from when I first detected “under way – making way” from my vantage point, 1616, the photo below is U plus 11 minutes.  Movement at first was barely perceptible, gauged by watching juxtaposition of Peking masts and background features.

U plus 13.

U plus 14.  The traffic in the background will welcome me when I leave my station . . .  A note on the flags here:   the red one (below) is Hamburg’s flag, and the one high in the mast of Peking (next photo below) is that of Stiftung Hamburg Maritim (SHM).

And finally–I shifted my station about a mile to Camp Gateway, Staten Island . . .U plus 21.

All photos by Will Van Dorp.

Combi Dock III & Peking Saga 4

I passed by this afternoon, so here’s a quick post.  Peking seems to have disappeared in this hold.

But for scale, check out this photo I took while she was on a dry dock at Caddell’s  nine and a half years ago.  See the yard worker in a white protective suit lower right?

photo by Will Van Dorp Jan 9, 2008

Even the masts seem diminished by the cranes.

Safe passage!  And with that I pass her off to spotters off the coast of the UK!

Combi Dock III & Peking Saga 3

No need for much language here.  I started these photos around 0830.  Despite some rain, conditions were ideal for this loading . . . or engulfing.

Here Dorothy J gently moves the antique barque foot by foot closer to Hamburg.

Combo-Dock III, the engulfer, lies in wait.

Robert IV assists when needed.

Without the zoom, I imagined the gentleman with the yellow helmet to stand by on the helm.

We have 20 meters and closing . . .

 

 

 

With big power on minuscule tolerances, Dorothy J eases her in.

 

 

 

The barque floats gently forward in the hold.

Lines to capstans on the heavy lift ship are doing the work, as the tugs stand by until released from service.

 

 

 

 

 

Peking is now engulfed.  Time is about 1130.  Operations to make fast and secure now begin before they head out into the Atlantic for Germany.

Many thanks to Jonathan Kabak and Jonathan Boulware for the floating platform.

All photos here by Will Van Dorp, who is thrilled to have seen this today.

Combi Dock III & Peking Saga 2

I stopped by around midday today.  Trevor had been alongside all morning.  I presume this was loading cargo support materials. Here’s the last post I did where Trevor appeared.   These first two photos are taken from Brooklyn looking across at Staten Island.

Time is of the essence here, but I’ll bet working in the 90 degree F temperatures was draining.

Here’s the prep as seen from Fort Wadsworth.

Reynolds‘ Twin Tube appears to be standing by with supplies for crew and possibly spares.

 

Let’s hope tomorrow proves an eventful day. . .

All photos by Will Van Dorp.