Multifarious Traffic Nola

Call this grand finale, third of three on Nola traffic . . .  but of course, that’s contrived; there is no finale except to my reporting.  Powered traffic has operated here since Roosevelt, the great grand uncle and aunt of TR,  Nicholas Roosevelt and Lydia Latrobe Roosevelt, their second arrival there in 1811!  I’d love to time travel back to join them on their first trip by flatboat and their second by steamer New Orleans.

I’d put money on a bet that Federal Crimson is going to load grain for export. The grain comes down river in barges pushed by the likes of Penny Eckstein.  Penny is part of the huge Marquette Transportation fleet, and at 4600+ hp, she’s one of the least powerful. 

 

The 2015 Crimson is part of the Montreal-based, foreign-flagged dry bulk fleet called FedNav.

Only recently have the old Algiers ferries—Armiger and Porteriere–been replaced by the sleek catamarans, including RTA  2.  In the link for RTA 2, there’s an unexpected SUNY Maritime connection.

Blanco is part of the huge Kirby inland fleet, approximately 250 tugs and over 1000 barges.

The 2012 Pan Unity, loaded along the big Muddy is on her way to the Mediterranean, and who knows where beyond that.

The 2012 Capt Niles Shoemaker comes from a shipyard in Bayou LaBatre.

Ensemble here was headed for Altamira MX, and has already departed there back to the US port of Houston.

Capes Kennedy and Knox have been at the ready here since 1996 and served post-Katrina.

I love the grand stairs here, and find I’m not the only person who frequents them as a platform.

The 1992 Capt. Bud Bisso has operated in these waters under that name since her launch.

Salvation, 2009, is another tugboat out of Bayou LaBatre.  Salvation is also a Marquette Transportation boat.

Creole Queen stays busy.

War Emblem has carried many liveries since 1982, including Kirby colors, but her current name is rather unusual. Her operator, Turn Services, operates over three dozen vessels.

I took photos of a sister of the 2017 tanker Stena Imprimis in the sixth boro, and I’ve yet to post them.  I AM remiss!

Mark Dougherty operates for ACBL has over 3500 barges and almost 200 towboats on the Mississippi. 

 

 

The 1981 Joseph Merrick Jones has been part of the Canal Barge Co. fleet almost since its launch.

All photos, WVD, who refuses to call this a finale of any sort since the river flows on, the boats traffic 365/24, and I hope to return soon. And although this blog may seem obsessive, I try to keep my own personal levees in place to confine that energy to recording vessel traffic on this blog.

Three 2022 calendars remain in the market stall at tugster tower, $20 each.  After they’re gone, I close the merch division for another 11 months.   If interested, email me your USPS address.

Dense Traffic Nola

Sitting on the levee in Nola, I note a variety of watercraft passing by no less assorted than the revelers in the French Quarter.  Well . . .  How about as differentiated as the contents of the best 15 bloody marys in Nola?  Well, let’s see the photos below , or see past Nola posts here.

Seeing a deeply loaded kayak like that coexisting with commercial traffic is quite unusual, but the gear there tells me that is a long-haul and experienced paddler.

Above and below, MV John Pasentine fights a lot more gravity than the paddler does.

Janice Roberts and Presager keep a healthy distance apart, 

 

each carving an arc in the current.

Upbound inside the curve, Rodney is about to disappear beyond Pan Unity.

Less than a minute later, Pan Unity splits the distance between Shiney V. Moran on our side and an unidentified tugs stands by with

After doing some work and returning to the river, I return to a river that continues flowing assisting and resisting those whose business rides there.

Robin R. with a crane barge,  two tugs with fuel barges upbound, and more and more.

What hearkens to the past, of course are vessels like the kayak above and paddlewheelers like the 1991-build riverboat City of New Orleans, or the 1983 Creole Queen, or 1970s steamboat Natchez. For info on the Lake George NY connections of the family associated with all three paddlewheelers, click here and scroll.

I have more, so I’ll have to do Dense Traffic Nola 2.

All photos and curiosity and any errors, WVD.

The first batch of calendars is on the way.  Please confirm when you receive.   The price this year is $20, and few are left.  Order now by emailing me.