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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.
She powered herself away from the Fort Schuyler dock for most likely the final time. Click here for all the previous posts I’ve done on this soon-to-be-replaced training ship. Her replacement is already in the water in Philly for fitting out, sea trials . . . .
This morning Ellen and Marjorie pulled her away from the dock as a number of cadets waited
in the rain. Cadets and alums traded stories.
On many departures, she’d be rotated and pointed westbound on the East River, but today
she ducked under Throngs Neck Bridge, past Fort Totten, and
made for the western Long Island
lighthouses.
All photos, shortly ago, WVD.
What’s happening at this bridge?
Approaching on what appears to be a wooded river is an antiquated cargo vessel.
Know this sylvan location?
Might this be a not-so-obscure location referred to as the UES,
the Upper East Side of Manhattan? That certainly appears to be a section of the river campus of Rockefeller University . . .
Of course, this is the non-river but a tidal strait referred to as the East River, where the first pre-fabricated portions of the new campus were lifted in place only six years ago here.
And of course this is Empire State VI, launched as a cargo ship in 1961, converted on the Great Lakes to be a training ship, and serving as such for SUNY Maritime for over 30 years now, and departing on her last summer sea term for that school. See here.
Old as this training ship is, she turned heads along the East River as she headed out for sea. Many past departures and returns and shifts have been the basis of posts on this blog in recent years. I’d love to see photos of her transiting the Welland Canal and Saint Lawrence back 30+ years ago after conversion to training ship.
Happy, safe, and instructive cruise, cadets. As of posting today, she’s off the east end of Long Island with next port of call–if my info is current–Philly. I wonder if there will be a sail-past of the new NSMV at the Shipyard there . . . . It would make a great photo op, with the old and the new.
All photos, any errors, WVD.
More photos here thanks to Pete Ludlow.
The Amigo is an asphalt tanker. That means she moves her cargo around at almost 300 degrees F.
She was eastbound with assist by James D Moran.
What do you suppose Vinik No. 6 had in tow?
Nicholas and Liz assisted as well.
But of course, it was the venerable training ship . . .
from the shipyard on its way back to Fort Schuyler.
Again, many thanks to Pete for sharing these scenes not previously seen on tugster.
Unrelated: Since we robots monitor harbor events and share news, here’s a surprise that will astonish tugster upon his return: The Brown tugs have been sold to Seward Marine of Chesapeake VA.
Welcome back from Summer Sea Term this year. An FDNY boat provided a water display welcome on the far side of Governors Island, but my vantage point, as suggested by a SUNY grad, was Brooklyn Heights. This was the view from the Esplanade and Pierrepont. To see my perspective on previous occasions, click on the tag above. From the Heights, the overcast and almost precipitating morning dimmed the many gantry cranes in the distant port.
When she was delivered in 1962 as a break bulk freighter SS Oregon, she would have been typical of freighters on the high seas. Since 1990, returning aboard from summer sea terms has been a rite of passage for thousands of SUNY grads. I hope I have my dates right; if not, I’m sure you’ll correct me.
Passing the ferry terminals at the tip of Manhattan must have looked quite different back 30 years ago; the sight from 100 years ago would have differed dramatically. . .
as would any FDNY or NYPD escort vessels.
Back then, in the foreground, there would be commercial activity and warehouses, not
parkland with
an ever-growing cover of urban forest
almost obscuring the training ship as it passes beneath the Brooklyn Bridge.
Welcome back.
All photos, WVD, with thanks to Steve Munoz to try out this view.
Another training ship came through here just a week or so ago. Here are a few more from other maritime academies.
Tech astounds me . . . yesterday morning I got an email from a New Yorker in the UK telling about this event; tugs are already under way, he said.
I missed the first tug but arrived in time for Liz Vinik, shown here in classic NY context as well as state-of-the-art architecture.
Following Liz was Vinik No. 6., another classic, one I’d not seen in a while.
Both veteran tugs were on the move.
Five hours later, and after both my VHF and cell phone had died, leaving me to wait on sheer faith that this was going to happen, the tow appeared into my field of view, westbound at Hell Gate.
TS Empire State IV VI was headed for the yard in dead ship mode.
With Liz on the bow and No. 6 alongside, they made their way to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, to GMD, where she would make her way into the graving dock after dark yesterday.
Nicholas tended the stern. Previously she was Maria J.
Had she come around the bend by Hell Gate 15 minutes later, i would have missed this, since I had late afternoon chores waiting.
All photos by Will Van Dorp, who is grateful to Steve Munoz for that early morning email from the UK.
Here are previous posts on the vessel. This past June, Steve Munoz was in Scotland when the training ship traveled up and then later down the Clyde. All photos come from Steve.
TS ES VI arrived in Scotland after stops in San Juan and around the Mediterranean.
On the Clyde, escort was provided by Svitzer tugs Milford, Anglegarth, and Ayton Cross.
They pass checkerboard-patterned Port Glasgow Beacon.
It turns out that near the Beacon, this gentleman–Fergus Monk–has a Clydeside body shop, from which he takes leave to wave banners and take photos whenever a ship passes. Here the banner greets paddle steamer Waverley.
PS Waverley looks quite inviting here. Want to book?
What surprises me about the Clyde is the relative rural character of the hills alongside.
Steve’s guide here is none other than tug engineer Tommy Bryceland, occasional contributor on tugster. Greetings to Tommy.
After a brief sojourn in Glasgow that included meetings with City of Glasgow College, a marine programs partner, the training ship was escorted down the mighty Clyde
and out to sea.
Many thanks to Steve Munoz for these photos and this info. I hope I’ve interpreted his photos and notes correctly.
Here was the previous 2017 return, before the venerable vessel was called out for extraordinary duty in early September assisting in relief efforts after the devastating hurricanes in Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico.
I caught these photos of the classic 565′ steamer–launched in 1962 as SS Oregon–from Roosevelt Island on a rainy blustery morning.
She ran eastward
before disappearing around the bend at Hell Gate.
All photos here by Will Van Dorp. Click here for a press release from SUNY Maritime. For more info, click here to read the workboat.com article.
Click here for previous SUNY sea term posts. I’m grateful to SUNY for an invitation to ride along from the Upper Bay to the SUNY Maritime campus yesterday. What a homecoming this must be for the cadets, and their friends and families.
Families and friends were already there off Staten Island.
For cadets–aka college students–the sense of preparing for a bright future must be palpable,
a reward for study and practice.
And the welcome comes from strangers all along these last few miles. Airports and airplanes just don’t afford this grand arrival.
Those were construction workers at Rockefeller University’s River Campus above, and ConEd workers below.
Small boats followed us.
Folks at the Vernon C. Bain Maritime facility paid attention.
Workers on the Whitestone stopped to watch.
NYPD came to greet and
be greeted. “Selfie taking” gives a whole new meaning to turning one’s back on a subject.
McAllister’s Ellen and
Amy C came to greet and assist. SUNY grads work in many different industries, including the towing industry, maritime services, pilots’ associations, law enforcement, fire departments . . . and the list is much longer.
But on the SUNY Fort Schuyler campus, the welcoming is most intense.
After 17 days at sea since their last port, this one is probably the best.
All photos and sentiments by Will Van Dorp. Hats off to students, families, staff, and of course the 57-year-old ship.
After a few more catch-ups, I’ll return to the account “Go West Again.”
Here are the previous posts in this series. This is the SUNY training ship’s return this past week from a “sea term” that began this way on May 10. This first set of photos comes from Roger Munoz, who took them from high above 74th Street.
That’s Roosevelt Island just to her far side, and the Queens and the Bronx farther beyond.
Later that morning, Thomas Steinruck took these during the assist back into the dock
as
friends and family welcomed TS Empire State VI home. Now it’s back to classes, study, and tests in this part of the Bronx.
Many thanks to Roger and Thomas for use of these photos.
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