Something Different 72

Twas the day before Thanksgiving, and the Port ‘Liz had ships aplenty, 

but the very next day it was almost empty.  

In a different part of the US, TS Empire State, which just two months ago was alive and lurking beneath Throgs Neck bridge, has delivered itself to the breakers in Brownsville. 

Heading back to the sixth boro . . . go to the infrequently–it seems–updated google map satellite view for the east side of Staten Island, and you ‘ll see this impressive flotilla . . .

ten tugboats and eleven tank barges.  I know some of you might be able to identify some or all of these 21 vessels, now scattered to the seven seas.

While I’m posting about online visuals, I enjoyed Sal’s discussion here yesterday on the current state of piracy around the world but particularly off West Africa.  This reminded me of how long ago already the Maersk Alabama aka Captain Phillips incident happened;  before clicking on the link, guess which year that vessel was held.  USS Bainbridge, which visited the sixth boro in 2016, was involved in retaking the ship.  Here’s a helpful site Sal mentioned that tracks incidents of piracy around the seven seas.

And one more . . .  can you imagine spending 11 days and nights on an open boat at sea?  How about that period of time riding the top of a tanker’s rudder!!?  Read about it here.