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AIS is just that . . a tool to help us see the otherwise unseen, those moving things over the horizon. And wonderful things there are to be seen with this tool.
Yesterday I was reading Ray Bradbury’s short story “Night Meeting.” A large part of the story features a conversation between Tomás Gomez (TG) , Earthling, and Muhe Ca (MC), Martian. I’ll simplify part of it here:
“TG: The canals are empty right there.
MC: The canals are full of lavender wine.
TG: It’s dead.
MC: It’s alive. (protested the Martian, laughing more now.) Oh, you’re quite wrong. See all the carnival lights? There are beautiful boats as slim as women, beautiful women as slim as boats, women the color of sand, women with fire flowers in their hands. I can see them, small, running in the streets there. That’s where I’m going right now, to the festival; we’ll float on the waters all night long; we’ll sing; we’ll drink; we’ll make love. Can’t you see it?
TG: Mister, that city is dead as a dried lizard. . . . ”
So I was looking at AIS midmorning; the purplish clutch of “round the world clippers” was about 60 miles south and a tad east of Montauk. Another player out there -farther southeast of the racing yachts–was the tug Rachel! The last time she “passed my radar” was last fall when she towed a vessel from the San Francisco area to the scrappers in Texas. Now it appears she’s homebound after a tow of parts to Bath Iron works, parts for what will become USS Zumwalt.
Also, just off Brick, NJ on the AIS “map” above is Larvik, which was at the dock in Bayonne yesterday.
Ten weeks ago in Nola, I got this quite distant foto of American Queen, which I understood had been at the dock for some time, a few seasons. Imagine my surprise, then, when I stumbled upon this article about steam travel on the Mississippi having resumed.
A visit to AIS finds her snaky trail leading to this dense cluster of vessels in Baton Rouge. Here’s a recent NYTimes story on the boat with a great slideshow.
And finally . . . I caught Wilson Saga escorted by Brendan Turecamo headed under the Brooklyn Bridge the other day.
She’s not a large ship relative to Brendan.
And until I got my fotos home, I’d never even noticed, taking Wilson‘s stern, the refurbished marketboat turned yacht named Peggy ?
So where do you suppose Wilson Saga has been prior to the sixth boro? Some obscure and magical places, if you like Nordica:
June 6th, New York
May 23rd, Aalborg
May 19th, Moerdijk
May 10th, Riga
May 7th, Jelsa
May 5th, Heroya
April 23rd, Svelgen
April 19th, Leirpollen
April 15th, Glomfjord
What a saga . . .
All fotos by Will Van Dorp.
I had planned to call this convergence, but the sixth boro or any harbor is much too dynamic a place for that title. Stuff in and stuff out . . . . From near to far here is Dewaruci, Arabian Sea, and Swan. Dewaruci, arriving here already last Thursday, was the vanguard of the flotilla that prompted me to think of this as “convergence,”
When Swan left and sank over the horizon, here’s the track she followed for the rest of the day.
As she headed out, a flurry of other vessels moved out as well, like Mariposa. I’ll bet she’s the updated version of Butterfly, which used to call here. . . and maybe still does. These are non-interactive screen captures of AIS.
Anyhow, as Swan and Mariposa headed out, notice APL Indonesia and A. r. c. Gloria arriving. As thrilling as it was to see Gloria, I felt the same to see APL Indonesia, which I foto’d here three months ago headed outbound for China; THIS is the return, twice via the Panama Canal.
Let’s follow more KVK outbound shipping.
Sunday night I also noticed Gazela exiting Delaware Bay. Almost two years ago, I stood watch on Gazela inbound from just east of Cape May and upward toward Wilmington, midnight to six, a thrilling experience. If you’re local or can get here by this weekend, come see pirate burlesque on Gazela. Get tickets here.
As Mariposa and McAllister Girls tango eastbound on the KVK, crew retrieve Girls’ line. Just a few days ago, Girls participated in the foggy loading process of Swan.
In the wee hours this morning, I noticed B. E. Guayas (all 257′ loa of her) approach from the south and Eagle from the East.
Line back onboard, crewman flakes it out for the next job.
Also in the wee hours this morning. APL Indonesia heads back for China already, passing between Pride of Baltimore 2 and Cuauhtemoc, converging upon the sixth boro. Here’s a quite poor foto I got of her at Pier 17 five whole years ago . . . before this blog sprouted chin feathers!! For a guide to pronunciation, click here.
Next . . .
Also by Tuesday morning, more Opsail vessels have converged within the sixth boro. See Gazela at Pier 25 Manhattan, and over at the cement pier in Brooklyn is . . . . Alice!!! Alice Oldendorff!! My point is . . . Opsail happens within a context.
More vessels leave via the KVK Sunday to make way for those like APL Indonesia and scores of others arriving. Below are Cosco Kobe and MSC Natalia.
And when I woke up this morning, Eagle was doing a turn in the Narrows while Scotty Sky (52 years young . . . bless her vital Blount-built tanks!) was supplying Gloria with liquid sustenance.
Final shot . . . no one’s walking the plank here. It’s the docking pilot debarking Cosco Kobe (check out her port history and more here.) onto Catherine Turecamo.
Enjoy Opsail and Fleet Week, starting tomorrow. All fotos and captures by Will Van Dorp.
Latest . . . J.S. El Cano (1927 built and 371 ‘ loa) has popped up on AIS; I had seen her in the wee hours. Cisne Branco, La Belle Poule, Etoile, and all the FleetWeek vessels are still out of range or in stealth mode.
Unrelated: Who works at the highest elevation in NYC? Tom Gordon. And, bothered by the rain today? Read this from Zinder.
More context: Click on the word for ships (in no particular order) of the Mexican Navy, Ecuadorian Navy, Colombian Navy, Indonesian Navy, Brazilian Navy, and Spanish Navy.
Tugster does not strive to be a “shipping news” site, but each time I walk or ride my beat, I DO keep an watchful eye for change, novelty, well . . . new sights. Certainly this was true yesterday: let’s start with the orange vessel to your left. You’ve seen the colors before, but is that a “hole through the stern above deck”?
I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a bit more of Swan in the next few days. And I trust lessons have been learned from last spring’s Blue Marlin saga.
So Beaufort Sea has begun its Kirbyfication. As has Norwegian Sea, but I was too far off to get a good foto.
Resolute‘s foredeck seemed to be carrying a lot more than deckhands yesterday. And is that a movie camera? And what were they all looking at?
How about this unusual equipment on Ellen? Is MOL Earnest that tough a customer?
Iron Eagle is not new to the harbor, but the Conti name is . . . at least to me.
Rosemary Miller? New too. I wonder what has become of Sorenson Miller.
With spring comes the sailing season, and America 2.0 . . . I last saw closeup here last fall.
And one last “newby” I was lucky to catch yesterday was Mark Moran, headed south to . . who knows where? Mark‘s so new that even on Birk and Harold’s excellent site, there’s only a drawing of her.
Followup on lots of these soon. All fotos taken yesterday by Will Van Dorp.
For the news from the Narrows between Detroit (which means “the narrows” in French) and Windsor, click here for Isaac’s site and some great fotos from Wade. The surprise there for me was Zeus, who worked the sixth boro a bit a few years back. Also, there are more shots of DonJon’s huge Great Lakes ATB unit.
Also, of course please vote for tug Pegasus and Lehigh Valley 79. The fact that they’re not in the top few places should NOT be a reason to give up; we have a daily vote until the 21st.
You’ve seen “turning 70” and other rotations, get ready for this . . . it’s a windy day on Newark Bay as
Margaret has forward starboard line and
Emma dashes to the point where a turn of greater than 90 degrees needs to be negotiated to rotate into the
KVK.
The calculations of forces resisting and favoring this turn go way beyond my mere high school physics, and my high school physics class was more than 40 years ago.
I’m guessing what’s happening was accounted for by Newton and I’d enjoy hearing a description of forces like resistance caused by hull and keel design, ideal speed for flow across the rudder, and coordinated push of the two tugs deployed such that 5100 hp is near stern and 3000 hp opposite but toward the bow; and taking into account the current/tide and wind.
But ultimately, I suppose the principles are the same as turns a canadagosling.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp.
Tugboats in the sixth boro of New York City vary not quite infinitely, but almost. Consider Pegasus (1907), here with Lehigh Valley 79 (1914) alongside. And my social medium tells me they’re about to link up and travel again soon. Watch Pier 25.
And Coral Coast (1970) versus its fleetmate,
and newest tugboat in the boro . . . Discovery Coast (2012).
Amy C. McAllister (1975) and
Bohemia (2007).
Taurus (1979) and
James Turecamo (1969) along assisting Scott Turecamo (1998).
Thornton Brothers (1958),
Caitlin Ann (1961), and
Maria J (1958).
Rounding it all out . . . is JoAnne Reinauer III (1970), here passing the unmistakeable Torm-orange house of Torm Thames (2005), and see this spotlight by selfabsorbedboomer.
Having called this set almost infinitely varied, I must say there’s NOTHING operating in the sixth boro quite an unusual as Joseph Thompson Jr. (portions from 1944), the tug portion of an ATM unit currently working the North Coast between US and Canadian ports. Thank’s to Isaac Pennock aka tugboathunter for introducing me to this vessel; For the dizzying set of transformations, read the bio by boatnerd here . . . and follow the fotos, especially the ones by Mark Vander Meulen, Steve Hause, Lee Rowe, and Rod Burdick.
Foto of Discovery Coast by Joel Milton; all others by Will Van Dorp.
It’s been over a year since I’ve used this title . . . I worry sometimes that someone I catch in the act of working might feel intruded upon. Such is the farthest thing from my intention. I’m certainly not the first or last to state there’s dignity in labor, whether it’s performed indoors or out.
Here Doubleskin 37 approaches NYK Rumina (named for the goddess of breast-feeding mothers!!!) as
day breaks to refill
the bunker tanks; Coral Coast (1970, McDermott, and attractive) in pushgear.
Green Bay shuttles between dredge and
shore, throaty as she pushes water.
Paul Andrew seems headed for a shore base as well,
as Sarah Ann heads for Newark Bay
with a deck barge.
Scott Turecamo pushes New Hampshire into the interior of Arthur Kill land.
And Maria J moves a crane barge in
the same direction.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp, who’s mindful that for every member of the crew outside, there are possibly four inside.
Today minimal text prevails. I took these fotos in a total of nine minutes. Below is foto #1.
#2.
#3. Note the prop race on starboard side of Laura K.
#4.
#5. Margaret Moran helps Commander depart Howland Hook stern first aka
backing down. Foto #6.
#7.
#8.
#9.
#10. Note two of the charge towers (if that’s what they’re called) on Kraken, the bedrock cracker.
#11.
#12. Note Manhattan cliffs reaching over the flatlands of Bayonne.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp. Commander is Europe-bound. Previous backing down reports are here, here, here, and here.
Yesterday close ups . . . today zoomed outs, like this. There’s something eerie about a bulker named Tigris (2003) headed up the Hudson, for Yonkers and then Aruba, but I’m glad bowsprite caught this foto, which suggests how narrow the North River here is. I’d seen Tigris but been unable to get a foto.
Likewise, Ocean Morning . . . I saw her on AIS over in Port Newark, but . . . only thanks to John Watson do I have a foto of her leaving here for Boston.
Great Eastern (2005) I caught several times . . . and by now, like Ocean Morning, she’s in Boston.
Yuan He (1994) also heads from here to Boston; this German-built vessel seems
to be showing her segments overly so distinctly I could be convinced she’s about . . . to molt!
Maersk Willemstadt was here last week and is already outbound from Savannah, Miami as next destination.
Likewise, Turandot (1994 , is Georgia bound tonight. Turandot, like other WW vessels, carries an operatic name like Don Juan and Traviata.
Conti Larimar (2011) may still be
loading scrap in the sixth boro.
What ship is this? Maria T
is actually a barge, a dry cargo covered barge whose contents are suggested by the name . . . LaFarge, and if that sounds French . . . well, it is. And I believe it’s pushed by Doris Moran.
Passing in the KVK here are Advance Victoria, escorted by Gramma Lee T. Moran, and
Valle di Granada, 2006, 2002, and 2005, respectively.
And to conclude, dramatic vessel with a forbidding name . . . Cape Wrath (1982), named for this wet and wild desert . .. of sorts, getting serviced over at GMD Bayonne.
Fotos 1 and 2 as attributed; all others by Will Van Dorp.
Whatzit??
It’s the shadow of the gangway as Laura K. sidles in for contact on the vessel with the illustrious name . . . Great Eastern, practically panamax 150 years ago.
And Buchanan 12 sports some
new color design. Lots of paint seems to be getting applied in the sixth boro this spring.
I’m not sure how long Bouchard boats like Jane A. have borne these colors. Notice Hayward in the distance.
Here’s another shot of Laura K. east and southbound with her usual determination.
Buchanan 10 rounds up some heavy stone scows.
Here Turecamo Girls assists at Great Eastern‘s bow for
some serious rotating.
And finally a foto with a question . . . what has become of Rae these days? I took this foto about two years ago.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp.
Here was RS 18.
Let’s start with two fotos from Ken on the North Coast. In fact, this first foto shows American Spirit on the legendary Whitefish Bay. Note all the wind turbines on the distant ridge. The 1000+ footer was built in Ohio and operated by American Steamship Company of greater Buffalo, NY.
Here the Wisconsin-built John G. Munson enters the Soo Locks, at the southeast corner of Whitefish Bay. No visitors to the sixth boro have quite these hull designs, which border on neo-razzledazzle a la bowsprite.
Ships calling at the sixth boro tend to look more like this, Pacific Endeavor having been delivered from an Asian shipyard, this one from Oshima Shipbuilding.
Or . . . escorted by Gramma Lee T. Moran, Santa Bettina comes calling, built five years ago in that place of many industrial superlatives that used to be assigned to Detroit . . . Ulsan, Korea;
or NYK Demeter, Ulsan 2008, stopping in NYC once every few months on its trans-Panama shuttle between eastern US and China;
or Korean-built MSC Emma . . . operating between eastern US and
eastern South American ports, although registered in the Marshall Islands. In the shot about, it’s Moran’s Laura K near Emma‘s stern and Barney Turecamo,passing to port.
One more . . . Korean-built sixteen years ago . . . it’s another Panama Canal-frequenter APL Spinel, here escorted in by Louisiana-built Amy C. McAllister.
Top two fotos thanks to Ken of Michigan Exposures; all others by Will Van Dorp.
Two resources I’ve just (finally) added to my blogroll are Workboat and ShipsandHarbours.
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