Dutch Tugs 10

Hat tip to Jan van der Doe for sending along a set of tugboat photos from the Lekhaven area of Rotterdam harbor.  Rather than shotgun approach and posting a lot of photos, I just chose one tugboat for today’s post . . .   Brutus.  Click here to get all the specs for the boat.  Let me highlight some info.

She’s big and shallow:  117′ x 47′ x max draft of just over 9′, the first ever Damen Shoalbuster 3514 SD (Shallow Draft) with DP2 ever built, and launched less than two years ago.  Propulsion is provided by four Caterpillar C32 ACERT engines delivering 5,280 hp to four 6.2′ nozzles. 

Here’s another link.  For the rest of the Herman Sr. fleet, click here. 

Thx to Jan Oosterboer and Jan van der Doe for these photos.

Here are the nine previous installments of this title. 

1922 Side Wheel Tugboat

Thanks to Jan van der Doe, enjoy these photos of a radschleppdampfer, translated as “side wheel steamer,” a museum ship in Duisburg, Germany.

The side wheel barge tug Oscar Huber was built in Duisburg Ruhrort in 1922. She towed barges until 1966 between Rotterdam and Karlsruhe, about a 300-mile trip on the Rhine. She’s a sole survivor, the only of its kind on the Rhine River saved from scrapping. In 1974 it was turned into a museum.

   

See her in her 1950s b/w glory in this video, with all narration in German. Color video sans narration can be seen here. More video here. 

 

She was recently moved w to a shipyard in Friedrichsfeld–15 miles down the Rhine– as shown here by Herkules IX and Franz Haniel 14.  Both push boats operate for HGK.

 

Note the folded down stacks.

 

Many thanks to Jan for sharing these photos. 

Click here for some posts of Swiss side wheel steamers, photos thanks to Rich Taylor. 

Speaking of HGK and inland river towing, my latest favorite YouTube channel is marktwained, chronicling the work of a Mississippi River captain/pilot.

 

Earth-on-Water Day 3

Since I’m not yet out of the bayou, and since Mage–who might need some cheering up– requested it, here are more photos from the currently ongoing flower parade on the waterways of Westland, a section of the province of South Holland in the low country aka Netherlands. 

Hey . . . they brought out the king, or as the Dutch would say . . . the “koning van rock n roll.”

Since this blog is called tugster, and should NYS Canals do such a parade for the 200th anniversary of DeWitt Clinton’s trip, THIS is a role to play for small tugs, whether private of NYS owned. 

In Westland, even local professionals get involved. 

How about another shot of a small tow boat.  By the way, is that a cheater tug with an excavator in the background of some of these photos?

I’m not even sure who might have sponsored some of these “floats,” but they do make me proud of my Dutch heritage with its attention of aesthetics and tolerance. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have another push boat in the mix. 

 

And let’s end with a string of floats towed by Walrus, another small tugboat.

Thanks to Jan for sharing these, to Mage for requesting more yesterday, to my friends at NYS Canals for paying attention, and to you all for reading.

Every day that passes, I’m closer to a lot of things, including getting out of the hot bayou near Avery Island. Click here because I know you know Avery Island.

 

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Earth-on-Water Day 2

If you hop on a plane today, you might still catch the last two days of this flower parade in the land and specific region of my father;  my mother grew up farther east on the Rhine. Here’s an English version of what’s going on;  Westland is a region connected by waterways, not a town.  Here’s a map, and here’s info on the boats. I’m going to send this blogpost to my friends at the NYS Canals, because I think the integrated boat/bike/camping event is a worthy model for Canals to study.  

With my limited WiFi, I post these for you to enjoy.   Let’s start, of course, with a prime mover, a small tugboat mentioned in an earlier post comments as an opduwer.

I’m guessing this float was sponsored by an automobile dealer who sells US vehicles. 

The range of themes surprises me. Note another small tugboat.

 

I love this one.  

Actually, I love them all. 

And given my current long stay in the bayou, I had to include this.

I have a few dozen more photos, if you indicate interest in seeing more. 

Many thanks to Jan van der Doe for sending these along, more photos of a summer festival in another place, maybe not entirely different than the mermaid parade, which I missed last weekend.  Imagine if NYS coordinated a people’s event of this magnitude in 2025 to fete the 200th anniversary of the year DeWitt Clinton made the 10-day journey from Buffalo to NYC to unite the fresh and salt waters. 

Other Watersheds 12 Redux B

If I have these dates right, Pieter Boele was built in 1893!  Clearly this hull was built for towing, that  bow  not built for pushing.

Of course, the same would be true of the 1913 Jan de Sterke.

Dockyard IX dates from 1915.  I know the small tug is called Furie, considered a push boat.  I can’t make out the name of the third and fourth steam tugs in this photo, beyond the small pusher.

Noordzee is a 1922 tug.

Roek dates from 1930, built in Vlaardingen, my father’s hometown.  He would have been three when it was launched.

Volharding 1 dates from the same year. 

Dockyard V, as seen here, was built in 1942, although the sparse design suggests it’s older than that.

As with part A, all photos in part B here were sent thanks to Jan van der Doe and taken by Leo Schuitemaker.  Scroll through here for some fabulous photos of the event.  Maybe I’ll go back there again in 2024.

Posting by tugster tower robots at the behest of WVD, who wonders why the Dutch are able to field such a rich field of restored and fully functioning steam tugboats.

 

 

Other Watersheds 12 Redux A

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.

Oceania Tugs 3

Many thanks to Jan van der Doe for sending along these workboat photos from various places in the English-speaking southern hemisphere.  As of the moment, Agros, 85′ x 30′, and built in 2009 in Sibu, in Sarawak state, Malaysia, is at the dock in Cairns, AU. The shipyard in Sibu is called Rajang Maju Shipbuilding.   

I just figured out Agros is alongside Trinity Bay, a Sea Swift cargo vessel. 

Gulf Explorer is also currently in Cairns.  The 1971  82′ x 26′ tugboat was launched in Carrington, NSW, AU.  

Storm Cove, currently in Brisbane, is 95′ x 30′ and was launched from the same Carrington AU shipyard in 1971.  She was formerly also known as Shell Cove.

Monowai , currently at the dock in Picton NZ,  is 98′ x 30′ and was launched in 1973 by Oceania Marine in Whangarei NZ. Whangarei is on the north island, and Picton, the south.

Pacific Runner, shown here on the Tamar River in Tasmania, is 211′ x 49′.  She was built in 2003 by Pan United Shipping in Singapore.  She’s currently flagged China and known as Luo Tong 7002 anchored in the greater mouth of the Yangtze. 

Have any readers experience to share traveling in Singapore?  The country/city state has awakened my curiosity.

This photo was taken in New Zealand.

Swiber Torunn, shown here in New Zealand, is a 194′ x 46′ offshore supply vessel built in 2008 in Guangzhou, CH.  She currently is registered in Mexico and is sailing along the south coast of Jamaica this morning.

Taiaroa, 79′ x 36′, was built in 2014 by Damen in Gorinchem NL and currently sailing under the flag of New Zealand.    Are those sheep on the hillside?

Tarcoola, Australian flagged and 92′ x 32′, was built in 2004 by the Batam Indonesia shipyard Nanindah Mutiara in the Riau Islands, right across the Singapore Strait from Singapore.  

Here Tarcoola is working in tandem with Wajarri, a twin. Both currently work out of Cairns.

 

 

Warrender, 220′ x 46′, actually might be called Toll Warrender and previously known as Riverside Cloud and Gulf Cloud, was built in Auckland NZ, 1995. As of this writing, she’s in Cairns, having just completed a cargo run from the northern tip of Cape York, AU.  Anyone ever been there?  I’d love to hear from you if you have. 

All photos come thanks to Jan van der Doe.

Given my inquiry about Singapore and Cape York, you might correctly surmise that spring has me suffering from wanderlust. I’m actually departing soon on a gallivant . . ..  Robots may or may not continue to post while I’m away.  Let’s see how reliable robots are.  Loyal!?  What’s that to a robot?

 

Oceania Tugs 2

These photos by Trevor Powell were forwarded with his permission by Jan van der Doe.

ASD Aquilon on 12-2021 departing from port of Adelaide for Whyalla after refit.

Riverwijs Grace on New Year’s Day 2022 in port of Adelaide.  She dates from 2000.

 

This SL Endeavour photo was taken on a summery January morning in 2022 at Outer Harbour, Port of Adelaide.  She dates from 2010.

Here in a December 2021 SL Endeavour assisted new patrol vessel HMAS Arafura from the builders yard in Adelaide.  It is named for its intended area, the Arafura Sea.  Could you identify where in the Pacific or Indian Oceans that sea is located?

The 1998 Sea Pelican photo was taken in the  Outer Harbor, Adelaide in December 2021.

Svitzer Albatross assisted MSC Tokyo into the port of Perth back in December 2021.

Svitzer Eureka in December 2021 was departing from Port of Adelaide to Melbourne, after docking at Osborne

Walan on January 1, 2022 down from Port Pine for dry docking at Adelaide.  Walan dates from 1986.

And finally, we go back to New Zealand for this photo of Hinewai in Admiralty Bay (on northern tip of the southern island) in mid-January 2022

Many thanks to Jan and Trevor for sending along these photos from the areas currently enjoying summer.  See more of Trevor’s photos on FB here.

Here’s a place name I stumbled onto today, Null Island. Any idea where it is?  Check here. The Soul Buoy is located there.

 

Sleepboot Thomas

Sleepboot . . .?  it’s Dutch for tugboat.  It’s pronounced more like “slape boat”

See the tricolor courtesy flag between the lower and upper wheelhouse?  The photos were taken Monday (July 5)  by Jan Oosterboer, in Het Scheur, aka “the rip”, a section of the Rhine-Maas-Scheldt delta near Rotterdam.

And those certainly are not buoys you’d see in the US.

Weeks tug Thomas recently arrived in Rotterdam area.

It’s just off the Nieuwe Maas in the Delfshaven section of Waalhaven.  The Plymouth pilgrims ended their Dutch sojourn by departing from the port of Delfshaven.  It’s not too far from all these kinds of sights.

Thomas towed barge Oslo and had an assist from Dutch telescoping-house tug Walvis. 

Thomas may be doing crew change in Rotterdam;  a few months back they were working off Ascension Island!

Many thanks to Jan and Jan for sending along these photos.  Evidently, a US tugboat in the Netherlands draws attention!  I’d love to hear more of the story.

 

 

Thanks to Jan Van Der Doe 3

Here are some previous posts with photos from Jan.

So here’s the tugboat, just out of the shipyard near the Arctic Circle and at work, the last in a series of five identical anchor handling tug supply (AHTS) vessels bringing more than 23000 hp to the job. This job starts in the Princess Arianehaven. 

And what’s the tow?

And how many tugs does it take?  Here’s Maker assisted by Mutratug 32,  quite interesting in her own right as a Carrousel RAVE tug. Click here for more.

But I digress.  Maersk Resilient (2008) is moving out to the Stella Oil/Gas Field with this assistance. The additional tugs are Multratug 5 and FairPlay 27 and 28.

 

And here Bugsier 3 intrudes on the scene.

All photos taken last weekend by Jan Oosterboer and delivered via Jan van der Doe.

You also have one more day to name the port and guess the date in yesterday’s post.