Backing Down Heina

“Backing down” is a term I’ve heard used to describe a ship assist in which the tugboats control the sternwise movement of a vessel away from a dock.  Most of the work here seems to be tide current driven, if I saw it right.

Let’s pick this up at 16:28 hrs.

The evolution waits for incoming traffic, in this case Seoul Express, which I watched getting backed down half a decade ago here and here.  Margaret Moran was involved that time as well.

At 16:49, Seoul Express, accompanied by Kirby Moran, is passing and Margaret throttles up, catching

the attention of a crew member on the superstructure of Seoul Express.

 

 

By 16:51, Heina is well away from the dock, and now

James D.Moran needs to get the stern out, but I’m not well placed to capture that.

Margaret moves around to the bulb.  I love how the load markings mimic the tug profile.

By 16:58, Heina is at least two ship lengths east of the salt dock, and

by 17:07, Heina has begun to rotate counterclockwise in preparation to head under the VZ Bridge out to sea.  By now, she’s south of the Bahamas.

All photos by Will Van Dorp, to whose untrained eyes this all seemed to evolve with masterful control.

As to the meaning of “heina,” try this.

Random Ships 47

Here and here are previous posts in this spirit, but first, the answer to yesterday’s bridge identification question . . . Joseph Chomicz nailed it . . . it’s Outerbridge Crossing, named for a person of commerce.

Today’s question is:  as you look through the photos in this post, can you think of a type of cargo that seems to be missing in the sixth boro in recent months?

In the photo of the self-unloader below, Outerbridge Crossing is seen from the south side, not from directly below.

Although the light is not ideal in the photo below, this is the stern of the self-unloader Caroline Oldendorff, poised to auger salt off to a pile between the oil tanks.

I like the effect of the flag in front of the spare wheel.  I last saw Caroline on the Mississippi here.

Here’s an unusual tugster perspective . . . Eagle Madrid leaving the south end of the AK, passing Perth Amboy and

snaking through the channel across Raritan Bay;  that’s Brooklyn in the background to the right.

Here’s another unusual tugster perspective . . . Sea Halcyone (formerly Unique Sunshine) passing Shooters Island as seen from Faber Park.

Note Margaret Moran assisting to port, and a (mothballed??) Liberty IV still on the hard to the left, and several raucous gull drones doing some pilotage.  Maybe?

 

Here JPO Pisces gets overtaken by Tangier Island before

passing MSC Katya R, who’s

seen in by JRT Moran.

Heina, although no self-unloader, is discharging the same cargo as Caroline Oldendorff had in her holds:  salt.

So which cargo seems to be missing . . . in recent months?  My perception is orange juice, my favorite drink.  Have I just been missing the ships, or is there a change in the supply chain?

Again, congrats to Joseph for naming the bridge in yesterday’s post.

All photos here by Will Van Dorp.