Retro Sixth Boro 59 B

Since I’m currently riding the long rails, including this one, I’ve queued up a few posts.  More on the rails soon.

But let’s go back a decade and a month in this case, and see some happenings in the sixth boro in 2013.  Diane B was already around, and here she was taking advantage of the high tide to make her way with a light John Blanche downstream from the head of navigation on the Hutchinson River to the East River tidal strait.

Americas Spirit came in with assistance from Barbara McAllister and McAllister Sisters.  Barbara is now Patsy K, and sisters is still Sisters.  Spirit is still Spirit.

Marquette’s Miss Emily made a run through the KVK, likely in connection with some dredge work.

Vernon G was already Mary Gellatly then.  Now she’s a very busy Mackenzie Rose.

Catherine Turecamo retrieves a docking pilot.  Catherine is now on the Lakes as John Marshall.

Harry McNeal moves Clyde along by the hip.  Work was just months away from the old version of the Bayonne bridge.  Both boats I believe are still in the boro.

Lincoln Sea was the biggest regular in the boro, and still occasionally comes through.

Gramma Lee T. Moran still worked here, and I’d not yet met her namesake. 

You know it, of course, this photo is about the Mini Cooper, not the RORO that delivered it here.

Mixed traffic worked here, as it still true.

A very rusty Horizon Trader-  a 1973 cargo ship now long scrapped-–passed through the port with its 2325 teu capacity.

Back then an occasional tanker with this type of Cyrillic writing could be seen. 

And around this time I started to use the tag “collaboration.”  This photo comes from Capt. Fred Kosnac on an “excessively windy” day.

All photos here, as attributed.  Thanks to Fred for the photo above. 

Trader

Although quite common for tugboats and other smaller craft, New York is a rare place of registry in large vessels today.  Horizon Trader belongs to the same aging Jones Act fleet as Producer, Navigator, Challenger, . . . Crusader now scrapped.

I’m way out of my depth in bringing up the Jones Act, a set of statutes regulating maritime commerce dating from 1920 sponsored by Senator Wesley Livsey Jones.  But here is a fact:  35 years old is the average fleet age of Horizon’s container vessels . . . a large if not the largest Jones Act carrier.  That compares with 12 years  . . . for the international container vessel fleet.  Source for these ages is here.

As an untrained observer of the industry, I can state that Horizon Trader looks all of her 40 years, and again . .  as a fervent but unconnected news consumer, I’ve heard/read nothing that blemishes their safety record.

And here’s the newest development . . . Horizon will cease their commerce through New York, substituting Philly instead.

Technically Trader is a Type C6-S-85a designed for Farrell Lines by George G. Sharp, a firm with a stellar list of vessels to its name.

Enjoy the 40-year-old details.   I’d love to hear from someone who’d been onboard.

She looks small beside Laura K. Moran.  All fotos by Will Van Dorp.