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The visit of Linda Sue
FROM THE ARCHIVES: On New Year’s Eve 2023, Hays Tug and Launch’s Linda Sue arrived on the North River from the Delaware River with a Vane tank barge in tow astern. That was the first time I had seen Linda Sue. The tug and barge were around New York Harbor and on the North River periodically in the first few months of 2024 but I haven’t see her since then. Two years later, Linda Sue is currently underway off Virginia, heading from Norfolk to Galveston.
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New kid on the North River
In mid-December, Haugland Group LLC ’s newest tug Lily Anne came up the North River with a pair of hopper barges, passing the Lucy Reinauer at anchor with the 46,000 barrel tank barge RTC 42. Haugland acquired the 1981-vintage 1,800 HP former Weeks Marine tug earlier this year, adding a fourth tug to their fleet and this was the first time I have seen her on the North River. Lucy Reinauer is older, built in 1973, though like all of Reinauer’s older tugs she has been substantially modified and updated. Monday morning (today) finds Lily up at Haugland’s materials port facility in Tompkins Cove on the Rockland County side of Haverstraw Bay, while Lucy is at Reainauer’s Staten Island base.
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Demand and supply
The run up to Christmas saw heavy tanker barge traffic on the North River, perhaps reflecting in part the cold start to winter and consequent demand for heating fuel. Sunday Dec 21 saw Kirby ATB Mount St Elias/ DBL 82 come through with a loaded tank barge heading for Newburgh. In the photo they are passing Guttenberg, NJ and the anchored Stephen Reinauer/RTC 61. A week later, Mount St Elias is back in NY Harbor after making another run up to Newburgh mid-week. Stephen Reinauer is with a barge unloading at the Sprague terminal in Port Morris on the Bronx East River shoreline. Janice Ann Reinauer is the only unit at anchor on the North River today.
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Commuting
Carver Companies’ 3,900 HP towboat Erin Elizabeth came down the North River a few days before Christmas bringing a high sided hopper barge from Coeymans down to the harbor. Erin was back up north on Christmas morning but then back in New York Harbor moving barges around by the weekend.
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Working Christmas
The Susan Rose/RCM 252 ATB was on the North River a few days before Christmas, heading for anchorage off Yonkers with the barge looking light after calling at a terminal in Port Morris on the Bronx East River shoreline. Susan was underway on Christmas morning, heading for Providence, RI where she is set to arrive the next day.
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Passing friends
The Dean Reinauer/RTC 106 ATB (4,000 HP tug built in 2013 paired with an 108,000 barrel barge) came up the North River Tuesday, passing colleagues on the Josephine/RTC 83 ATB (4,400 HP tug built in 2018 paired with an 86,000 barrel barge) anchored off Guttenberg. Although Dean’s barge looked loaded, the unit was apparently not ready to head for a destination, instead lingering a few hours at anchor a half mile north of Josephine before heading back to the harbor where she remains Thursday morning while Josephine remains at anchor on the North River.
©2024 Daniel Katzive Uncategorized -
South for the winter
After spending two days at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal, Hapag-Llyod’s Europa 2 backed out into the North River Monday morning, with Moran tractor tug Thomas C helping push the bow into the flood tide. As of Tuesday morning, Europa 2 has reached Charleston, calling there en route for the Windward Islands, the Panama Canal and then winter sailing in the Pacific. Thomas C is at the Moran yard on the Kill van Kull waiting for her next assignment assisting ships arriving and departing New York Harbor.
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At rest on Sunday
The Vane Brothers 4,200 HP 2008 vintage tug Patuxent was northbound on the North River Sunday morning with the light tank barge Double Skin 601 (361 feet long, 56,000 barrel capacity). Patuxent was heading for anchorage off Riverdale where she spent the day, departing after sundown for the Buckeye Perth Amboy terminal on the Arthur Kill where she remained at sunrise Monday, presumably loading a new cargo.
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Fireboats big and small
The North River fire company, FDNY’s Marine 1, had both their big Three Forty Three boat and their small alpha boat on the water Saturday afternoon. We don’t normally see both of these boats on the water together, I believe because they are crewed by the same company, with the nature of the emergency determining which boat responds to a call. But there were a large of number of people in civilian clothes on the deck of the Three Forty Three and this was perhaps a special occasion or maybe holiday event for family. They were out for less than an hour, making a quick loop up to Pier i and then back to the Pier 53 base.
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This is BBC
The cargo ship BBC Helsinki came up the North River just before sundown on Friday and just after a storm moved through, heading for the Port of Albany with no deck cargo visible. This is the at least the sixth BBC Chartering ship I’ve managed to capture on camera on the river this year and I’ve missed many as well. The ships sometimes carry project cargo for delivery in Albany but more often of late I believe they are loading large pieces of GE equipment manufactured in New York for export overseas.
Observations on the Hudson River as it passes through New York City. The section of the Hudson which passes through New York is historically known as the North River, called this by the Dutch to distinguish it from the Delaware River, which they knew as the South River. This stretch of the Hudson is still often referred to as the North River by local mariners today. All photos copyright Daniel Katzive unless otherwise attributed. For more frequent updates, please follow northriverblog on Facebook or Instagram.
North River Notes 