Posts Tagged ‘Tugboat’
Circumnavigation 2
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Onboard the Circle Line, as it passed the Lower Manhattan Financial District, I spotted a couple of interesting things. The Meagan Ann tugboat was pulling a barge of shredded autos, which were reduced to their basic components at an industrial location found along that canalized exemplar of municipal neglect called the Newtown Creek, just up the river.
Here’s a shot of that Newtown Creek auto shredding operation which I took last year:
– photo by Mitch Waxman
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Meagan Ann is a twin-engine, 2,250 HP coastal towing tug, built in 1975 and rebuilt in 1988, approximately 81 feet long and formerly known as the Scorpius. It is owned and operated by Donjon Marine towing, Inc.
from donjon.com
Since its incorporation in 1966, Donjon Marine has established and continues to seek long-term client relationships in a world where limited business resources demand a constant balancing of expenditures. Beginning with its foundation in the New York area as a pioneer in marine salvages services, Donjon has grown to become a leader in both conventional and environmental dredging. Our areas of expertise also include recycling, land and marine demolition, pollution control and remediation, heavy lift transport, marine transportation and landfill remediation/site management. Donjon and its affiliates maintain offices, assets and personnel throughout the Northeast, with operations spanning the globe.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Also witnessed by your humble narrator were regular comings and goings of Helicopter flights from the East River Piers found alongside the Financial District. It’s a Eurocopter AS-350B-2 Ecureuil, based at the West 30th street Heliport and operated by Liberty Helicoptors.
The largest helicopter sightseeing and charter service in the Northeast. Liberty Helicopters is currently the only authorized helicopter sightseeing company in New York City. We began in the charter business on April 22, 1986 and added sightseeing tours of New York City originating from the VIP heliport on September 6th, 1990. At that time, Liberty had begun an aggressive plan selling in both the domestic and international markets. Using our strong customer base afforded us the opportunity to open a second location at the downtown Manhattan heliport in 1995. Liberty Helicopters was not only the first company to operate sightseeing tours from this multi-million dollar facility, but also the first to offer our customers the convenience of two Manhattan locations. On May 1, 2004, we opened a third heliport at the Paulus Hook Pier located in the newly developed area of the Colgate section of Jersey City, N.J. In addition to our “once in a lifetime” helicopter tours, this facility operates both commuter and sightseeing ferry services, making it a very accessible facility to Manhattan.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Of course, once we reached the grandest structure in the entire megalopolis (if you consider New York City to be composed of individual parts as opposed to being one gigantic system of transit, power, and satellite cities that stretches for hundreds of miles in every direction) your humble narrator forgot all about Sludge boats, Tugs, and aircraft. I’m always amazed at the scale and classical proportions of the Brooklyn Bridge.
from wikipedia
The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River. At 5,989 feet (1825 m), it was the longest suspension bridge in the world from its opening until 1903, and the first steel-wire suspension bridge.
Originally referred to as the New York and Brooklyn Bridge, it was dubbed the Brooklyn Bridge in an 1867 letter to the editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, and formally so named by the city government in 1915. Since its opening, it has become an iconic part of the New York skyline. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
If it hasn’t been recommended to you yet, by me or others, I have to sing the praises of “The Great Bridge by David McCullough” which details the design and construction of the Brooklyn Bridge as well as providing a real “slice of life” about 19th century New York City. My preference for audiobooks is satisfied by the version available at apple’s iTunes store, and you could do worse things with your hard earned money than pick up the print edition at amazon.
from wikipedia
Born and raised in Pittsburgh, McCullough attended Yale University, earning a degree in English literature. His first book, The Johnstown Flood, was published in 1968; he has since written seven more on topics such as Harry S. Truman, John Adams, and the Brooklyn Bridge. McCullough has also narrated multiple documentaries, as well as the 2003 film Seabiscuit; he also hosted American Experience for twelve years. Two of McCullough’s books, Truman and John Adams, have been adapted into a TV film and mini-series, respectively, by HBO. McCullough’s next work, about Americans in Paris between the 1830s to the 1930s, is due out in 2010.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I don’t remember who the quote is attributed to, but the Ken Burns PBS documentary “Brooklyn Bridge” embedded a notion into me a while back that “all of modern heroic New York began with the building of the Brooklyn Bridge”. I tend to agree with this maxim.
from endex.com
After sixty years of political, financial and technical discussions (including a 6 lane tunnel proposal in the 1830’s), John Roebling’s plan was approved, the New York Bridge Company was formed and, in 1869, construction of the bridge finally began.
The bridge was built over 14 years in the face of enormous difficulties. Roebling died as a result of an accident at the outset; a fire in the Brooklyn Caisson smoldered for weeks; Roebling’s son, Washington, who took over as chief engineer, suffered a crippling attack of the bends during the construction of the Manhattan Caisson, and continued to direct operations, sending messages to the site by his wife, Emily. After the towers were built, a cable parted from its anchorage killing two people; there was fraud perpetrated by the cable contractor.
In the end, John Roebling’s prediction that the promenade above the deck will be “of incalculable value in a crowded commercial city” was justified, together with his perhaps most noted statement, claiming that “the great towers…will be ranked as national monuments. …As a work of art, and a successful specimen of advanced bridge engineering, this structure will forever testify to the energy, enterprise, and wealth of that community which shall secure its erection.”
On May 24, 1883, with schools and businesses closed, the Brooklyn Bridge, also referred to as the “Great East River Bridge”, was opened. Scores of people attended this spectacular ribbon cutting event. Over 100 years later, its renowned beauty & stature is still admired by many New Yorkers & tourists alike.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The shot above is actually from last year (2009), but gives a good sense of the intricate series of roads and onramps that allow Manhattan traffic egress to the bridge.
from pbs.org
- Although he was physically able to leave his apartment, Washington Roebling refused to attend the opening celebration honoring his remarkable achievement.
- The bridge opened to the public on May 24, 1883, at 2:00 p.m. A total of 150,300 people crossed the bridge on opening day. Each person was charged one cent to cross.
- The bridge opened to vehicles on May 24, 1883, at 5:00 p.m. A total of 1,800 vehicles crossed on the first day. Vehicles were charged five cents to cross.
- Today, the Brooklyn Bridge is the second busiest bridge in New York City. One hundred forty-four thousand vehicles cross the bridge every day.
Circumnavigation 1
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The reason that I was in Manhattan on Saturday the 24th of April, rather than wandering about the dystopian hillocks of Western Queens (as usual), was that a friend was gathering a group of photographers and urban explorer types together on- of all things- a tourist boat. Coupons for a discount trip, and the offer of fraternal companionship, drew me to the west side of Manhattan to ride along for the three hour circumnavigation of the Shining City. The boat left from Pier 83, lately known as “the Circle Line” pier, on the Hudson River. That’s the John J. Harvey fireboat, incidentally- for more on the Harvey- click here, and here, and here.
from wikipedia
The Circle Line is the collective name given to two sightseeing ferry operations in Manhattan:
Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises at 42nd Street which circles Manhattan from its base at Pier 83 in Manhattan
Circle Line Downtown operates out of Pier 16, South Street Seaport. The company name is Circle Line Harbor Cruises, LLC. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Circle Line Statue of Liberty.
- The two companies split in 1981 from the parent Circle Line company and now have different officers and directors.
- Circumnavigation of Manhattan became possible in 1905 with the construction of the Harlem Ship Canal, the first regularly scheduled trip being the Tourist captained by John Roberts in 1908.
- On June 15, 1945 Frank Barry, Joe Moran and other partners merged several sightseeing boats to form the Circle Line operating out of Battery Park.
- In 1955 it began operating at its current Pier 83 location. In 1962 it bought the Hudson River Day Line.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
River traffic was at a minimum, and the relict gems that dot the coastlines were glittering in the morning sunlight. Pictured above is the Erie-Lackawanna ferry terminal in Hoboken, New Jersey.
check out this fascinating post at Hoboken411.com which details the reconstruction of this historic structure’s clock tower in recent years.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As the behemoth tourist ship entered into NY Harbor proper from the Hudson, along came the Marie J. Turecamo tugboat- a 2,250 HP twin screw tug operated by Moran Towing. It was originally built as the Traveller in 1968, by Tangier Marine Transport which operated out of the Main Iron Works facility in Houma, LA.
from morantug.com
Moran is a leading provider of marine towing and transportation services, a 150-year-old corporation that was founded as a small towing company in New York Harbor and grew to preeminence in the industry. The cornerstone of our success has been a long-standing reputation for safe, efficient service, achieved through a combination of first-rate people and outstanding vessels and equipment.
Over the course of its history Moran has steadily expanded and diversified, and today offers a versatile range of services stemming from its core capabilities in ship docking, contract towing, LNG activities and marine transportation. Our tug fleet serves the most ports of any operator in the eastern United States, and services LNG terminals along the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts and the West Coast of Mexico. The Moran barge fleet serves the U.S. Atlantic and Pacific Coasts, the Great Lakes, the inland waters of the U.S. eastern seaboard, and the Gulf of Mexico. We also provide worldwide marine transportation services, including operations in the Caribbean and periodic voyages to South America and overseas waters.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Playing at the serious business of being a tourist is no easy job. The Circle Line narration points out interesting features observed along its route, making frequent mention of “the sights they came to see”. An image of the Statue of Liberty is a popular and desired memory for visitors to the Shining City to acquire, and I couldn’t let it pass without a cursory shot. The events of September 11, 2001 received repeated mention in the script as well.
from wikipedia
The statue is made of a sheathing of pure copper, hung on a framework of steel (originally puddled iron) with the exception of the flame of the torch, which is coated in gold leaf (originally made of copper and later altered to hold glass panes). It stands atop a rectangular stonework pedestal with a foundation in the shape of an irregular eleven-pointed star. The statue is 151 ft (46 m) tall, but with the pedestal and foundation, it is 305 ft (93 m) tall.
Worldwide, the Statue of Liberty is one of the most recognizable icons of the United States.[11] For many years it was one of the first glimpses of the United States for millions of immigrants and visitors after ocean voyages from around the world.
The statue is the central part of Statue of Liberty National Monument, administered by the National Park Service. The National Monument also includes Ellis Island.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Speaking of 911, one of the newer Coast Guard patrol boats was busily speeding by. This is a “response boat small” I believe, and it was quick and seemed ready to become deadly at any moment.
from uscg.mil
Response Boat-Small (RB-S) was developed in a direct response to the need for additional Homeland Security assets in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks. The Defender-class boats were procured under an emergency acquisition authority.
With a contract option for up to 700 standard response boats, the Defender-class acquisition is one of the largest boat buys of its type in the world.
The 100 boat Defender A -class (RB-HS) fleet began arriving at units in May 2002 and continued through August 2003. After several configuration changes, most notably a longer cabin and shock mitigating rear seats, the Defender B-class RB-S boats were born.
This fleet was first delivered to the field in October 2003, and there are currently 457 Defender-class boats in operation assigned to the Coast Guard’s Maritime Safety and Security Teams (MSST), Maritime Security Response Team (MSRT), Marine Safety Units (MSU), and Small Boat Stations throughout the Coast Guard.
Mission Capability:
With an overall length of 25 feet, two 225 horsepower outboard engines, unique turning radius, and gun mounts both forward and aft, the Defender-class boats are the ultimate waterborne assets for conducting high speed maneuvering tactics in a small deployable package. This is evidenced by the fact that several Defender-class boats are already in operation at other Homeland Security Department agencies, as well as foreign military services for homeland security missions.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As the Circle Line crossed into the East River, nearing the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, however, a ship that’s familiar to long time readers of this Newtown pentacle appeared- the M/V Red Hook.
from wnyc.org
When the city invited a select few reporters aboard the Sludge Boat Red Hook, we figured it would reek, naturally enough. But, despite all that human waste and other organic cargo sloshing about, the boat smells just fine.
This is a nice, clean, next-generation sludge vessel: 350 feet long, cruising speed 10 knots. Inside the cabin, it’s all fancy gadgets, everywhere.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Red Hook is actually one of the newer Sludge Boats in the City’s fleet, built to modern specifications and environmental regulations.
from ny1.com
The $30 million boat, named Red Hook, is the latest addition to the marine fleet.
It will cart tons of sludge every day to waste water treatment plants. The plant on Wards Island processes about 200 million gallons a day of waste water; the sludge is the solid part of that waste.
“They are removing more of the solids from the water, we’re returning cleaner water to the harbor, but producing more sludge, and that’s a good news thing. But it also requires us to increase our capacity,” said acting DEP Commissioner Steven Lawitts. “This one is higher capacity. It has a capacity for 150,000 cubic feet of sludge, so it’s about 50 percent larger than previous boats.”
The Red Hook was built over a period of three years by a manufacturing company in Texas.
Hudson River
Another of those crazy days, I was invited to ride along on the yacht Manhattan recently, as it made its journey home to Scarano Boatbuilders in Albany for a checkup and scheduled maintenance. The day was unfortunately misty, but the slideshow will show you what I saw. There’s a couple of sequences in here which will get the full treatment- Esopus Island for instance- but that’s way off in the future. Right now, check out a trip from Manhattan to Albany via the Hudson River.
Newtown Creek, and the Mountains of Madness
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A Friday, on March 19th the Hermetic Hungarian had left his laboratory workshop (a set of rooms on Manhattan’s decadent Upper West Side where he is exploring the deeper meanings and implications of esoteric 19th century clockworks) and ventured forth to Newtown.
The Hermetic Hungarian, referred to as HH from this point on, is a pale and sickly genius who has been intrigued by the presence of certain atavist religions and the persistence of modern adherents to these sects who remain extant along the poison shores surrounding an ancient industrial center called the Newtown Creek. HH had procured an automobile for the day’s exertions- as his fragile health precludes him from the long walks favored by your humble narrator which are so pedantically detailed at this- your Newtown Pentacle.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Returning from a day of exploration, which first described the extensive branching of the transportation network referred to as “The Great Machine“, we proceeded to the currently undefended border of Maspeth and storied Greenpoint and crossed the Grand Avenue Bridge. HH was searching for evidences of a grandiose clockwork mechanism which long hours of research and supposition have led him to believe existed in the days of Trolley and Rail. Influenced by his metaphysical beliefs, which are both Hasidic and Buddhist in nature, the HH’s itinerary required his trip to be brief- and after spending an afternoon exploring the ancient climes of Newtown, Bushwyck, and Greenpoint- and we headed back toward a transportation artery that would allow him egress back to the Shining City and his hierophant isolations.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On our return, the bascule mechanisms of the Pulaski Bridge suddenly sprang to life, allowing egress to the Newtown Creek for shipping. The first watchtower on the Creek, the Pulaski is also the busiest of its bridges. While traffic on the Newtown Creek is a shadow of what it once was, there is still a significant industrial presence on the maritime highway that requires connection with the vast enterprises of New York Harbor- especially the petrochemical empires that line the shores of the Kill Van Kull in distant… Staten Island. Additionally the car shredders and other recycling facilities, which bless Newtown with their labor, utilize barges to move their wares to distant customers.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In this case, it is the petrochemical shipping industry which commanded the opening of the Pulaski Bridge, as evidenced by the appearance of the DBL 28 fuel Barge, a 28,000 BBL double hull tank barge (which conforms to the Oil Pollution Act of 1990’s requirements- no mean feat) which was built in 2006 and weighs some 2,146 gross tons.
from allbusiness.com
The 28,000 bbl capacity DBL 28 measures 297.6-feet in length, with a 54-foot beam and 13-foot depth. The DBL 28 is the first of a series of eight units currently in production at BMF for K-Sea. DBL 28 is coupled with an existing K-Sea tug using the state-of-the-art Beacon JAK 200 tug/barge Push-Pin coupler system, which is designed to increase operating efficiency and enhance safety and reliability by operating as a dual mode ITB. The series of barges are manned, non self-propelled, double hulled with a raked shaped bow, with six cargo tanks. The barges are classed Lakes, Bays & Sound (Inland) Tank Barges, ABS +A1 Oil Tank Barge, and USCG certified. The barges are being constructed primarily for bunkering and harbor service in ports on the U.S. East Coast.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The fuel Barge was being guided by the K-Sea Davis Sea, a 2,000 HP 95 gross ton, 77 foot long tug whose mast spires nearly 57 feet over the water. Online sources describe the Davis Sea as possessing 6 foot diameter propeller screws, which are powered by twin engines, and as having been built in 1982.
from k-sea.com
K-Sea Transportation Partners L.P., headquartered in East Brunswick, New Jersey, is a leading provider of marine transportation, distribution and logistics services in the U.S. From locations in New York, Philadelphia, Norfolk, Seattle and Honolulu, K-Sea operates a large fleet of tugs and tank barges that serves a wide range of customers, including major oil companies, oil traders and refiners.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Davis Sea, of course, is named for the oceanic area along the coast of Eastern Antarctica which abutts the Shackleton and West ice shelfs. Lying along the Indian Ocean side of the polar wasteland, it is the coldest, windiest and driest section of the southern pole. Eastern Antarctica is still largely unknown to man, except by aerial and satellite observation- although the Soviet and American hegemonies established scientific research bases as early as the 1950’s in the relatively ice free coastal areas. Today, all of the great nations are represented in scientific exploration of this final frigid frontier.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Gamburtsev Mountain Range as well as the prominences of the Transantarctic Mountains, and the East Antarctica Ranges are amongst the oldest ranges on Earth, although some of these great structures are quite nearly buried beneath the glaciers they have formed. Hostile to normal terrestrial life, these mountains of madness are rumored to contain and house several obscure occult constructs including “The black pit,” “the carven rim,” “the protoShoggoths,” “the windowless solids with five dimensions,” “the nameless cylinder,” “the elder Pharos,” “Yog-Sothoth,” “the primal white jelly,” “the color out of space,” “the wings,” “the eyes in darkness,” “the moon-ladder,” “the original, the eternal, the undying,” and other queer occult concepts.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Of course, your humble narrator digresses, influenced by a day spent with the limitless intellect of the Hermetic Hungarian- and the Davis Sea pictured above is merely a tugboat making it’s way down an urban waterway, and is not the seat of some cosmic horror which would shatter our notion of civilization and man’s place in the universal order.
The HH began frantically gesturing at me as I stood on the roadway of the Pulaski Bridge just then, lost down the soda straw reality of a telephoto lens.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Its purpose accomplished, the drawbridge had returned to its vehicular roadway duties, and traffic flow between Greenpoint and Long Island City was about to resume. Angry at the inconveniences offered by the delay, anxious drivers were about to rocket forth into Queens, and would have hardly afforded a specimen such as myself the luxury of not being ground to paste beneath their spinning wheels.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Davis Sea proceeded up the Creek, no paddles required or missed. She sauntered past FreshDirect and the Newtown Creek Waste Water Treatment Plant at Whale Creek, churning the languid gelatins which line the Newtown Creek as it went. This must be a difficult course, as there is so little room for error in piloting the narrow and tightly populated channel.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That is Calvary Cemetery on the horizon, with industrial Queens occupying the left side of the image. Just beyond is the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge and the significant petrochemical facilities- recently upgraded and enlarged and enjoyed by those on the Brooklyn shore – that adjoin it.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Forced to begin speeding up, the Hermetic Hungarian allowed me one or two last shots of the Davis Sea as it passed into that world of ancient mariners and atavist custom which typify Newtown, while angry motorists behind us employed their horns to display displeasure at our lack of enthusiasm for leaving the scene. Their horns formed a mocking chorus, an antiphonal response to our absent haste whose sound can be described only as…
“Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!” “Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!” “Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!”
Driven to madness by the sound, the Hermetic Hungarian began babbling madly, repeating the names of subway stops as we drove.
Bodiless, luminous, rejuvenated
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s what the gulls say.
As described in earlier posts, my mother has been ill, which has necessitated travel to and from… Staten Island… on the part of your humble narrator to safeguard her interests. I won’t bore you with the horrible realities of geriatric care in the City of Greater New York, but will instead share the way that I’ve passed the time while traveling back and forth from Astoria to… Staten Island.
Luckily, a fairly straight forward course exists, the R line connects western Queens with Manhattan, and its last stop in the Shining City is South Ferry- where the Staten Island Ferry docks at the Whitehall Terminal.
from nyc.gov
The following New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) Staten Island Ferry Passenger Rules of Conduct shall be adhered to by all passengers to ensure the safety of the public and all employees.
1. No disorderly conduct or behavior that may be deemed unsafe or disruptive.
2. No littering. Place all trash and garbage in the receptacles provided.
3. No spitting or creating of any other unsanitary condition.
4. Lying down on seats and benches within the terminals and vessels is prohibited.
5. Feeding of any animal within the ferry terminals or on any vessel is prohibited.
6. Smoking is prohibited onboard the vessels and within all enclosed spaces in the terminals. Smoking is allowed only in designated open areas.
7. Distribution or posting of any literature or advertisements without a NYCDOT permit is prohibited.
8. Unauthorized carrying of a firearm or weapon within the terminals or on the ferries is prohibited.
9. No person shall skateboard, roller skate or ride a bicycle, scooter or any other vehicle or device (except a wheelchair required for transit) on or through any part of the terminals or ferries. Bicycles and non-motorized scooters must be walked through the terminals and ferries and board the vessel via the lower level.
10. Commercial use of video, photography or audio recording equipment without a NYC permit is prohibited.
11. Playing any audible device without the use of earphones is prohibited. Audible devices include but are not limited to radios, game devices and video/audio playback devices.
12. Pets, other than service animals as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act, are not allowed in the facilities and/or onboard the ferry boats, unless they are caged and/or muzzled.
13. Destruction, graffiti, or marking of any facility or vessel is prohibited.
14. During an emergency all passengers shall follow the direction of NYCDOT facility personnel or vessel crew members.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The short trip across NY Harbor passes the Narrows and the nearby Kill Van Kull which provide ocean going craft with a pathway to the titanic facilities of Port Elizabeth Newark. On the Staten Island side, the Ferry docks into the St. George terminal.
A vast industry is at work on the water though, wholly visible in the weird and dynamic lighting generated by that queer luminance filtering through the humid valences which typically occlude the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself during seasonal transitions from winter to spring here in the City of New York.
from wikipedia
The St. George Ferry Terminal is one of two terminals of the Staten Island Ferry with the other being South Ferry which is located on the southern tip of Manhattan near Battery Park. The Staten Island Ferry runs 24 hour service between both terminals.
Staten Island Ferry terminal at South Ferry in Lower Manhattan
Today the Staten Island Ferry annually carries over 19 million passengers on a 5.2 mile (8.4 km) run that takes approximately 25 minutes each way. Service is provided 24 hours a day, every day. Each day approximately five boats transport about 75,000 passengers during 104 boat trips. Over 33,000 trips are made annually.
During rush hours, ferries usually run every 15 and 20 minute intervals, decreasing to 30 minutes during the mid-days and evenings. During very late or early morning hours (the midnight hours) a ferry is provided once every 60 minutes. During the weekends ferries run every 30 and 60 minutes. In November 2006, additional ferries running every 30 minutes were provided during the weekend morning hours – the most significant change in the ferry schedule for about 3 decades.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Staten Island Ferry moves at a good speed, generating airborne turbulence that attracts avian opportunists. Floating in the boreal slipstream of the great ship, gulls and other harbor entities accompany weary citizens on their cross harbor commute. The commuters entertain themselves with magazines, newspapers, and gadgets while out on the water- where a 24 hour heavy industrial work schedule is maintained. Pictured above are the tugs Frederick E. Bouchard and Linda Moran.
From his first voyage at eleven years of age as a cabin boy on a sailing ship bound for China, Captain Fred Bouchard knew that shipping would be his life. By 1915, he was the youngest tugboat captain in the Port of New York.
NY Times Article from June 8, 1900
Woman and Child Saved (by Captain Bouchard)
On July 30, 1916, while on watch of the tug C. GALLAGHER of the Goodwin, Gallagher Sand Co., Captain Bouchard witnessed the infamous Black Tom Explosion, which detonated $22 Million dollars worth of WW I munitions. Always one to set out to accomplish what few others could, he took his tug from the Long Dock at Erie Basin in Brooklyn and headed for New Jersey. Amongst continuing explosions, which blew the glass panes and lights out of his tug, he worked to rescue the 4,000-ton Brazilian steamer TIJOCA RIO, and the schooner GEORGE W. ELEZY, of Bath, ME. Later the US District Court awarded the Captain a salvage award and an additional award for personal bravery, which totaled $9,000. He quickly invested the salvage award to create his own company, Bouchard Transportation Company, which was incorporated in 1918.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The enormous orange car carrier cargo ship is being guided by the Miriam Moran, a 3,000 hp tug. The cargo ship, Tancred, is operated by the Wallenius Wilhelmsen company, and is just the latest ship of the historic Norwegian-America Line to bear that name. Maritime nomenclature refers to Tancred as a RORO- or Roll on and Roll off cargo ship.
from theshipslist.com
The company Wilh. Wilhelmsen was founded in Tønsberg in 1861 by Morten Wilhelm Wilhelmsen as a brokering and ship chandlering company and eventually became the largest Norwegian shipping company. In 1865 he entered shipowning when he purchased a share in the barque MATHILDE. The company’s first steamship, the TALABOT was purchased in 1887.
In 1901 the company progressed into liner services and in 1911 in partnership with Fearnley & Eger, established the Norwegian Africa and Australia Line. At the same time, the two companies took over the Norway Mexico Gulf Line.
By 1914 The Straits, China and Japan were added to the schedule and by this time the company was trading world wide. Although mainly a cargo company, many of their ships had accommodation for up to 12 passengers. In 1913 the company acquired it’s first oil tanker and by 1918 owned ten of these ships and had moved their operations to Oslo. In the inter war years, the liner trade was greatly expanded and the tankers and tramp ships gradually sold.
In 1920 Wilhelmsen took over the sole management of the Norwegian Africa and Australia Line and the Norway Mexico Gulf Line. In World War two, 26 of the company’s ships were lost, but were rapidly replaced after the war.
In 1969, Wilhelmsen, Fearnley & Eger and A. F. Klaveness jointly established Barber Lines. Later Wilhelmsens took over ownership and in 1975 established Barber Blue Sea Line jointly with Brostroms and Blue Funnel Line of Liverpool. In the 1970s, the company diversified into the offshore oil industry but sold their interests in this activity in 1995. The same year, Wilhelmsen’s acquired the Norway America Line. In 1999, The company formed a joint company with Wallenius of Sweden to operate both companies under the name of Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines and still trades today.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Tancred is capable of transporting thousands of automobiles in one ocean going structure. It was built at the Sumitomo Heavy Industries shipyard in Japan in 1987, has a gross tonnage (fully loaded) of 48,676, and is some 195.05 meters long. That’s 639.927822 feet, roughly one eighth of a mile. The fact that Tancred is riding so high in the water suggests that it has disgorged its cargo at the nearby Port of Newark.
from wilhelmsen.com
The PCTC (Pure Car and Truck Carrier) MV Tancred is one of three vessels built by Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Japan and she was delivered in April 1987. The vessel is specially suited for cars and trucks but she has also flexibility to carry other project cargo. MV Tancred has a total capacity of 5930 cars (RT43) or 552 trucks. Her sisterships are MV Tai Shan and MV Takara. The ship is built to the class of DNV (Det Norske Veritas) with the following designations DNV +1A1, Car Carrier MCDK, PET EO.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Miriam Moran, of course, is operated by Moran Towing and was built at the McDermott Shipyard in LA in 1979.
from fundinguniverse.com
The Moran Towing Corporation, Inc. is the largest privately owned tugboat company operating on the East Coast of the United States and a leader in oil and dry-bulk barge transportation. A family-owned business for more than a century, the company was purchased in 1994 by a group of investors headed by Paul R. Tregurtha and James R. Baker, who were also principals in the Mormac Marine Group and the Interlake Steamship Company.
Although it was incorporated in 1905, Moran Towing traces its origins to 1855, when Michael Moran, a 22-year-old immigrant from Ireland, used money he saved as a muleskinner on the Erie Canal to buy a barge. Five years later, after acquiring several more barges, Moran headed to New York City, where he set himself up as a tugboat agent. In 1863, he paid $2,700 for half interest in the Ida Miller, a 42-ton, steam-driven harbor towboat.
By the 1880s, Moran Towing was an established company serving the busy New York Harbor, and in 1883, Michael Moran was asked to serve as commodore of the tugboat division for the 1883 ship parade celebrating the centennial of the British evacuation during the Revolutionary War. After the parade, Michael Moran continued to use the title “Commodore.” His son, Eugene F. Moran Sr., then 11 years old, recalled in Tugboat: The Moran Story, “Nothing, since he established himself in New York, gave him a greater sense of accomplishment than the name of commodore…. He had become a personality among seafaring men.” Almost 70 years later, The New Yorker would describe Michael Moran as a “bold but pious” man who “often found it necessary to use a fleshly approach in refining the general spirit. Upon finding a couple of his subordinates drunk and brawling, he would seize them and start banging their heads together, meanwhile crying out admonitions mixed with Scripture.”
Michael Moran also started the company tradition of naming tugboats after family members in 1881, when he christened the Maggie Moran, the first tug built for Moran Towing, for his first wife, Margaret. About the same time, he began the tradition of painting a block letter “M” in white on the black smokestacks of his tugboats.
When Moran Towing was incorporated in 1905, Michael Moran, then 73, was president of the company, and Eugene Sr., then 33, was vice-president. That same year, Moran Towing set a record for long-distance hauls when it towed a barge from New York to San Francisco, 13,220 miles around Cape Horn. Michael Moran died a year later and was succeeded as president by his son, who quickly developed a reputation of his own.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned, the Staten Island Ferry does not dally, and one must not prevaricate when photographing onboard. The whole journey across the harbor takes approximately 25-30 minutes and is currently free.
from siferry.com
The Staten Island Ferry provides 20 million people a year (60,000 passengers a day not including weekend days) with ferry service between St. George on Staten Island and Whitehall Street in lower Manhattan.
The ferry is the only non-vehicular mode of transportation between Staten Island and Manhattan. NYC DOT operates and maintains the nine vessel fleet as well as the St. George Ferry Terminal on Staten Island, Whitehall Ferry Terminal in Manhattan, the City Island and Hart Island Facilities, The Battery Maritime Building and all floating dock building equipment.
The Staten Island Ferry is run by the City of New York for one pragmatic reason: To transport Staten Islanders to and from Manhattan. Yet, the 5 mile, 25 minute ride also provides a majestic view of New York Harbor and a no-hassle, even romantic, boat ride, for free! One guide book calls it “One of the world’s greatest (and shortest) water voyages.”
From the deck of the ferry you will have a perfect view of The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. You’ll see the skyscrapers and bridges of Lower Manhattan receding as you pull away and coming into focus again as you return.
A typical weekday schedule involves the use of five boats to transport approximately 60,000 passengers daily (109 daily trips). During the day, between rush hours, boats are regularly fueled and maintenance work is performed. Terminals are cleaned around the clock and routine terminal maintenance is performed on the day shift. On weekends, three boats are used (75 trips each Saturday and 68 trips each Sunday).
Over 35,000 trips are made annually.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Mom is doing better, but still has a long way to go before she returns from disease to ease. Literal in my thinking, I often find myself lost in the technical aspect of words like “disease”- literally a lack of ease. I’m all ‘effed up.
It’s like the gulls say: ia, ia, ia
The Newtown Pentacle 