UPDATED: Post updated to reflect that Treasury Coast was heading for Yonkers Domino plant to assist East Coast with departure of barge Jonathan rather than the cement plant in Ravenna.

A return to the River after a 10 day absence found conditions somewhat improved from the frigid temperatures prevailing before Christmas, but light commercial traffic and a blanket of fog sitting over the city were not conducive to photography. Observed vessels were mainly North River regulars, though the cargo ship BBC Aralia did slip by unobserved at midday. Her colleagues on BBC Topaz arrived at Port of Albany earlier in the morning carrying equipment for the Plug Power hydrogen cell plant which opened near there earlier this year. Perhaps Aralia has similar cargo.

Welcoming our first ship of 2023! @bbcchartering arrived this morning carrying a project piece for Plug Power. #albanyny #hudsonriver #maritime pic.twitter.com/M2RUjV0DCi

— Port of Albany (@PortofAlbany) January 3, 2023

The holiday period itself was characterized by big swings in temperatures, ranging from the single digits to the fifties. Fire was a notable theme as well on the River and in the Harbor: after the FDNY’s marine units saw action on December 14 fighting a warehouse fire in Erie Basin, the Staten Island ferry Sandy Ground suffered an engine room fire on December 22 on the Upper Bay. Tugs from CMT and Stasinos Marine helped hold the ferry in place as the 600 passengers were evacuated onto NY Waterway and NYC Ferry vessels. More recently, a tug suffered an engine room fire on the River between Catskill and Hudson on New Year’s Day. According to a Facebook post from the Catskill Fire Department, local marine units extinguished the fire. The fire department did not identify the tug, but the photos seem to show a CMT tug, with the Kimberly Poling providing assistance. Luckily, none of these three emergencies occurred on a day with extremely frigid temperatures.