Thanks to Xtian 2

So here was 1 and in it I said I would answer a question in a few days and now a few weeks have passed.  The question pertained to the device mounted on the stern of vessel

Husky.  Congrats to Seth Tane, who guessed correctly.  Here’s what Xtian writes:  “It’s a plough.  In French we talk about “nivelage” [leveling], which means after dredging the bottom of the sea is like a field that has just passed a plow.  This tool cuts the bump to fill the gap.  It’s also used in the rivers where the “alluvium” or the mud stays in always same places because of the current and built like “bottom hill” there.  And it happens also in some harbour (like ferries’ harbour) as because the ferries always doing the same maneuver and raise the mud that still lay at the same place.

With the plough used at the right time, ebb tide for example, the mud is raised and leaves the harbour with tidal current.  In some places the plough is used to feed the hopper dredger –  when the dredger is too large, the plough is used to remove a “bottom hill” when they are close to the bank to give the mud at the place where the hopper dredge is working.   The plough is not only used with mud but also with sand or pebble.  Google with words : Dredge – Plough.

About Husky, the day I took this picture she was working closely with the dredge Rijndelta at the entrance of Maasvlakte harbor.   I add a picture of her below.”

More of Xtian’s photos follow, like this closeup of the captain of Smit Cheetah,

 

Fairplay 24 and 21,

Union 11 passing the Mammoet headquarters,

Smit Schelde,

SD Rebel,

Multratug 31, 

Osprey Fearless, 

Pieter (?) towing Matador 2,

and finally the recently completed Noordstroom.

 

Many thanks to Xtian for these photos of another watershed.

Random Ships 40

Right around this time four years ago, I saw my first dockwise vessel in the sixth boro and the loading process was lengthy.  There’s a link at the end of this post, by which time you’ll understand why I bring that up.

For now,  imagine what’s to the right of Smit Panther and Smit Schelde, and

to the left of Smit Elbe and Smit Cheetah . . .

Here it is . . . Armada Intrepid, an FPSO here lassoed in the Calandkanaal portion of the port of Rotterdam.

And  . . . related or not . . .  Dockwise Vanguard,  queen of the heavy lift fleet, now enroute for the Riau Archipelago . . .

Oh!  of course, they are related.  It’s time for a piggyback.

All secure and keel of FPSO is already dry.

A sailor too long at sea, upon seeing this approach, would panic!

So here is the index of “groundhog day” posts I did four years ago.

For these photos, many thanks to Hans van der Ster of towingline.com and Jan Oosterboer via Fred Trooster.

Unrelated but talking about Dutch ideas for unusual housing, check out this idea.   Here are some photos from last year when I stayed at Botel in Amsterdam for a few days.