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Here’s a photo I caught back in December in Boston harbor. That’s Miss Yvette pushing a barge that’s just lifted a “briefly immersed” Massport vessel into the air. It had taken me a while to put together that this is the most recent livery for the previously very red Miss Yvette.
The plume rising from the small tug alongside was very impressive.
From eastriver, here’s an update on MV Merlin Banta, a 1946 vintage Mississippi River line haul boat that has to be one of my all-time favorites. Back in 2014, I did a post about her here.
This sentiment from eastriver: “Hadn’t seen her for a long time. Was worried that some heathen had scrapped her. But here she was yesterday, in the River at Bringer Point – with a new paint job!”
Also from eastriver, a quite chunky small tug pushing this crane barge.
It’ll remain nameless because we just don’t know.
And finally from Tony A, it’s Hercules, a Miami River tugboat in the dredging trade.
Previous P and L tugs like Rikki S have appeared here.
Many thanks to eastriver and Tony A for use of these photos.
Eight years ago, I had the opportunity to go to the steam festival on the waterways in Dordrecht NL. Here, here, and here are posts that came from that. That festival has just completed again, and thanks to Jan van der Doe, here are photos of some fine restored circa century-old Dutch steam tugs.
Hercules, for example, is 105 years young and new-build shiny.
By the way, the tower in the photo below is newer than Hercules. Info can be found here.
Adelaar dates from 1925, and looks brand new. The name means “eagle” in Dutch.
Kapitein Anna, a paddle steamer, entered service in 1911.
Scheelenkuhlen is German-built from 1927.
Furie is over a century old and looks pristine. Farther out, that’s Dockyard IX, 1942, and Maarten, 1926.
Hugo is from 1929.
Elbe, 1959, spent some time in the US as the mother ship Maryland for Chesapeake Bay pilots as well as Greenpeace vessel Greenpeace.
All photos sent thanks to Jan van der Doe and taken by Leo Schuitemaker.
That vessel in yesterday’s post was the 1983 Curaçao-flagged Mighty Servant 1, a semisubmersible heavy lift ship that hung around the sixth boro for much of December 2011. As of this posting, Mighty Servant 1 is traveling between Shanghai and Singapore.
“Semisubmersible” in this case means she can ballast herself so that large and heavy objects can float into place above her “flat bed” deck. When she deballasts, she lifts those objects out of the water. To deliver these same objects, the sequence is reversed and whatever heavy floating object floats off. I recall that while watching this process, which is very slow, uninformed folks near me watching it thought the USCG should be informed of a sinking ship in the boro.
Notice the clear deck area above and then below, large barges–sold to foreign buyers–being loaded over cradles.
Besides barges, two large tugboats were also floated onto the deck.
Centurion was an Invader-class Crowley tug from 1976 until this sale to Nigerian interests in 2011. Hercules was YTB-766 from 1961 until 2001, when it was sold to Boston Towing and renamed Hercules, a name it carried over to Nigeria. Charles A. and Gabby still work in the boro.
Once loaded, the deballasting begins and the underside of the vessels become visible and dry
How tall are you? That’s an 11′ diameter prop you’re looking at.
Once loaded correctly, a few days went by to snug all the cargo for the crossing. For some scale, the barge nearest us, RTC 90, is about 364′ loa. Also in the photo below, bottom right of the Empire State Building, that’s QM2.
All photos, WVD, who at this point headed south, so I’m not sure which day they departed for Nigeria.
For recent photos of another cargo on Mighty Servant 1, this one for SpaceX, click here. And a USN job, click here.
In case you’re new to this blog,”retro” means I’m looking back to my photo archives exactly 10 years to June 2011. The “38” here means this is the thirty-eighth month I’ve done this. It’s a fresh look at June 2011 photos, in some cases informed by whatever the past 10 years has wrought.
Bridge Builder 26 doing what it is named for.
F. Dawson, 1969, 66′ x 22′ and 1000 hp, in 2011 was working on a bridge project in the Harlem River. I’ve no idea where either of these boats is today.
Patapsco, 2004 and 96′ x 34′ and now known as Steven Wayne, was one of the first Vane boats into the sixth boro.
Susquehanna is a Patapsco-class tugboat, meaning mostly a clone and three years younger, and still in the Vane fleet.
Marlin (1974, 96′ x 35′, and 4200) and Penn No. 6. Marlin‘s now registered in Panama, and the No. 6 is now Vinik No. 6.
Kathleen Turecamo is now buff and green, a Stasinos boat, seen here as Meaghan Marie.
Matthew Tibbetts is still in the sixth boro and at work.
This was the only time I saw Hercules, ex-YTB-766. In June 2011, it was towed here and then loaded aboard a semi-sub for Nigeria.
Barents Sea came back to life as Atlantic Enterprise, and is currently working on a salvage/recovery down south.
All photos and memories, WVD.
There will be a mermaid parade later this summer; in 2011, it took place on the Saturday closest to the solstice, which would be today.
How about a quick post today, all three photos taken in a two-minute span on March 25, 2011. The third photo here is set to enlarge when you double click; let’s see if FB allows a preview with that.
Congestion: I don’t know what barge Sea Raven is pushing, but the Allied boat and First Coast are headed for the Gate on the East River. Sea Raven became razor blades in 2018. First Coast began as Morania No. 18.
Into the photo rides Hercules! Hercules was just off the ways at Washburn & Doughty in Maine, and on its delivery trip to Texas, where I believe she works with G and H.
Then into the photo also crowds Penn No. 4. Penn No. 4 ended up with Curtin Maritime in Long Beach CA but is currently out of service.
All photos taken during a busy two minutes, WVD.
In my effort to catch up on shared photos, let me start with one I’ve heard about for a few years but never seen yet.
Al Circeo shared these next two over a month ago. Is this tug still over at Mariners Harbor? Does anyone know what her owners plan for her?
At one point she went by Sea Monster. .. as in Monster.com. Before that she was the Port Athur-built Mars, launched in 1953 and which you can see in the link here. I don’t know if she’s been renamed, but right now as a yacht she appears to have come out of Monster Garage.
Over a month ago as well, I got this set from Russell Skeris, who took them from his Boston Whaler over by the Moriches Inlet.
Sea Cypress and Hercules were involved, as
were Capt Brennan and
All of them in a group shot can be seen below.
A glance at AIS this rainy October morning shows some of these vessels are still working there, as seen below.
Many thanks to Al and Russell for these photos.
I visited Southport once before, six years ago, when I met a wonderful gentleman who showed off his 1938 restored fishing boat Solomon T, here.
This time a small dredge operation was going on near shore, involving P&L’s Hercules. Also
there was Sea Oak (whose fleet mates have some great names here) and
Candice L. Thanks to SM.
Also, working on the project was crew boat Captain Tom.
I plan to get back to Southport in late spring.
Part of my interest here is explained by this book: Masters of the Shoals.
Know that boat below? Answer follows. It’s recently been in the news. This trove of photos comes from JG, an out-of-towner whom I sometimes meet along the KVK. This photo was taken between 2001 and 2007.
Seguin (1972, YTB-816 Campti) has been sold foreign. Anyone know where? The photo below was taken in 2003.
Hercules (YTB-766, Wapakoneta) has also gone foreign, to Nigeria, as documented on this blog here.
Natick (YTB-760, Natick) was completed at Jakobson’s although construction began elsewhere. The photo below was taken in 2009.
This photo of Phoenix LT-1975 was taken in 2007 in Constellation Maritime colors. She’s currently in Maine as Fournier Brothers.
King Philip, shown here in 2007, currently works as Olon in Panama.
Chicopee, shown here in 2007, was built in 1952 by Higgins Industries as Army tug LT-1966. Anyone know where she is today?
Ludwig E., which became Nathan E. Stewart in 2007, sank in October and was raised earlier this month. Anyone know if she will be refurbished?
Many thanks to JG for use of these photos.
“I have worked on two salvage tugs,” writes Jan. “The first one, Hercules in 1957-1958, was a seagoing salvage-tug/icebreaker built in 1943 for the German Air Force/Navy to salvage plane wrecks in the Baltic Sea. After the war the tug sailed for Bugsier and came under the Dutch flag in 1950. In 1984 [ as Temi IV] it capsized and sank. Salvaged and scrapped.”
“The second one was Zeepaard [ trans. Seahorse] in 1960-1961. Zeepaard was built in 1947 and used as tug/salvage tug by Tak’s Berging (W.A van den Tak Bergings Bedrijf N.V.), a sister company of L. Smit & Co. Internationale Sleepdienst Mij. N.V. Still in service. Now as a pusher-tug with the name Liberty.”
Thanks, Jan.
Two tugboats built that year are still around: Daniel McAllister (108.9′ x 23′) was built in Collingwood on Lake Huron, and Pegasus (96′ x 23′) on the Chesapeake in Baltimore. Pegasus was launched as S. O. Co. No. 16 and Daniel . . . as Helena. Daniel worked until the 1980s; Pegasus worked until 1997, retiring after nine full decades of service. Pegasus still runs, making its most recent trip here.
Off Pegasus‘ stern, that’s the lightship/luxury yacht Nantucket.
Daniel is in the old port of Montreal, certainly a place to wander around for awhile.
Here Pegasus was about to depart Caddell Dry Dock back in March 2010.
And here Pegasus was returning to the sixth boro from Mystic back in October 2010.
I’m wondering about the claim that Daniel is the second largest preserved tugboat in the world. I believe Hercules–also 1907!!!–is the largest at 151′ x 26.’ Where does Pegasus rank in this comparison: third, fourth, ??
All photos here by Will Van Dorp.
tugster: a waterblog 
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