Retro Sixth Boro 49A

Let’s jump back to May 2012.  Over along the Manhattan side of the East River then, I caught this scene.  Since then, there’s been some movement:   Peking to Germany,  Marion M to the Chesapeake,  Helen McAllister to  . . . rebirth as new steel.

Cheyenne has migrated to the Lake Michigan for now.

Twin Tube is still around but sans the boom.

Ellen McAllister is also still hard at work in the sixth boro, but I don’t see her doing much indirect towing as here.

Mark Moran was just passing through from the shipyard to Charleston.

Swan, built in 1981 and showing as her last movement three and a half years ago in China, has likely gone to rebirth as new steel.

But a decade ago in May 2012, she was here to move some used tugboats over to West Africa. Here she’s already down and BFT No. 38 with a crew boat strapped on has already been loaded, while

McAllister Sisters and McAllister Girls wait with three Crowley tugs, 

Cavalier, Pioneer, and Mars. 

After they are floated aboard, the tide turns the anchored Swan.

Socrates and Heron also float aboard, and

overnight, Swan gets deballasted and raises the hull, so that we can see their five-bladed wheels.   More of the story here.

Also in the boro those days was Picton Castle, showing the flag and more, maybe recruiting some hands

before sailing away.  Does anyone have news about her?  Has she really stayed in Lunenburg since late 2020?

All photos, WVD, exactly 120 months ago.

Unrelated to any of this, read this May 2004 article by the late great Don Sutherland and reflect on how much change has occurred.

Retro Sixth Boro 48

Does equipment ever change in the sixth boro?  Of course.

Thornton Bros, the 1958 Matton Shipyard product, was scrapped in 2014.

The 1971 Maria J is now Nicholas Vinik.

USACE Hudson, the sweetest Corps boat I’ve ever seen, got transformed into a fish house in 2019.   Advance Victoria, 2006, is now Kition M, anchored in the Persian/Arabian Gulf.

The 2002 Labrador Sea is now Vane’s Brooklyn.

The 1944 Gage Paul inadvertently became a very deep fish house in 2015.

The 2002 Gramma Lee T is now in Norfolk.

Does the US Navy still have airships?  If ever I have the chance to ride in one of these, I’ll take it in a heartbeat!

Bruce A brought in the 1970 Crowley Mars and

Michael J brought in the 1975 Crowley Pioneer;  both Crowley’s were shipped off to Africa later in 2012.  The 1971 Michael J. was scrapped late in 2021. Christine was working for Reinauer.

The massive 1970 Penn No. 6 is now the massive Vinik No. 6.

The 1972 Catherine Turecamo is now on the Great Lakes as John Marshall. 

Do you still want to tell me nothing ever changes in the sixth boro?

All photos taken by WVD during the first SIX days of 2012.

 

Random Tugs 297

That big “300” is beckoning, so although I had other posts planned . . .  let’s increment closer to that 300.  I’m inviting your participation here so that i can make it the best “non-random” random post.  Random Tugs 001 was here. Random Tugs 100 was more than seven years later, and 200 was about four years after that.

What better way to start than with these two photos of W. O. Decker, taken yesterday by Glenn Raymo.  Yes, that’s the Walkway over the Hudson.  Decker is taking a freshwater cure.

Many previous posts featuring Decker can be seen here.

Kimberly Turecamo assisted an MSC box boat in recently.  A less dynamic photo of Kimberly appeared yesterday.  The founder of MSC, Gianluigi Aponte, is alive and well in Italy.

Sarah D was on this blog recently with a unique tow; usually she pushes vessels like this.   But hey . . . it pays the bills.

Andrea follows a box ship to the NJ portions of the sixth boro.

Reaching back into the archives a bit, here was Honcho in San Juan PR.  I took this photo in March 2013.  She’s been all around.  I’ve forgotten, though, whether she actually worked on the Great Lakes.   I need to find out also what she looks like now that she’s a Moran boat.

Back in April 2012, I caught Bruce A. McAllister bringing in Mars, marked as registered in San Francisco.  Mars went onto a heavy lift ship over to Nigeria.  The photo makes me curious about traveling to Mars.

See the tugboat here?  Name the bridge in the background?

Between Algoma Olympic and CSL Laurentian, it’s Leo A. McArthur, built in Penglai China in 2009. Believe it or not, Penglai was the birthplace and boyhood home of Henry Luce, the magazine guy!

Did you recognize the last two photos as the Detroit River, and the bend between Detroit and Windsor.  The reason I asked about the bridge . . . the Ambassador Bridge is that the owner died yesterday.    Manuel “Matty” Maroun was 93. The 1929-built bridge, as well as the duty-free stores in its vicinity, have been owned by Maroun since 1979.

Many thanks to Glenn for use of the Decker photos.  All others by WVD.