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Last call for salt
On Friday, Carver’s Mackenzie Rose passed up the North River headed for Port of Coeymans. In tow were two hoppers loaded with what I think was probably salt lightered off a bulk ship that was in the Upper Bay and had arrived from Egypt. A bit later, the 650-foot bulk ship Port Nagasaki came by, also headed for Coeymans and showing a port of origin in Chile and also likely laden with salt.
AIS data suggests both the Nagasaki and the bulker anchored in the bay left their foreign ports of origin in March, which means these could be the last pre-10% tariff cargos of salt headed to replenish municipal supplies upstate diminished by the harsh winter conditions. This is my conjecture based on the data I can see and my observations—usual caveats apply and apologies for any errors.
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Mooring season
A crew from Miller’s Launch came up the North River early Thursday with mooring balls to be installed for seasonal use at the Parks Department’s Dyckman Street Marina. With the 79th Street Boat Basin out of service indefinitely, Dyckman Street Marina is the only recreational access point on the New York City side of the river north of 58th Street and the only spot with moorings for visiting boats. This too could disappear for a few years if a Parks Department plan to rebuild the marina next year goes into effect.
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Keeping score
The NYC Department of Environmental Protection does weekly water quality sampling along the city’s 500+ miles of waterways. On Wednesday the H.S.V. Piping Plover, the newer of the DEP’s two harbor survey vessels with on-board laboratories (the other is the HSV Osprey), came up the North River to inspect. In the background, Plover was passing the dark blue tanks of the Woodcliff water treatment plant in North Bergen, perhaps a good reminder that NYC is not the only municipality relying on the North River to carry away our daily waste.
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Pairing up
Heavy winds earlier this week saw a number of Reinauer units come up the North River to anchor. On Tuesday evening, Stephen Reinauer brought RTC 60 up, shadowed by Lucy Reinauer who then took over the barge at anchor while Stephen returned to the harbor. On Wednesday morning, the big Reinauer Twins/RTC 104 ATB came up, passing Curtis Reinauer/ RTC 82 at anchor. The tugs are similarly sized but the Twins’ barge is over 60 feet longer.
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Paying the tariff
Balsa 91, a compact 350-foot Panama-flagged bulk ship, arrived on the North River Wednesday with a cargo of raw sugar from Dominican Republic heading for the refinery in Yonkers.
With the bulker having left DR after April 5, this may be the first or one of the first foreign cargos to arrive on the river subject to the new 10% cross-the-board tariffs. However, sugar imports have always been heavily tariffed and subject to quotas which might mean there is less incremental impact on price than we will see for other commodities previously subject to lower tariff regimes.
Marjorie B. McAllister traveled north ahead of the ship to assist with docking at the plant.
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Crystal clear
Crystal Cutler ran light up the North River Wednesday morning. She was paying a short visit to Marilyn George at anchor with her barge off Edgewater amid heavy winds, perhaps exchanging crew or delivering supplies. Crystal is the smallest of Poling-Cutler’s tugs with 1,500 HP vs. 4,200 for Marilyn and doesn’t really do Hudson River runs. I believe Crystal more typically works the terminals on the creeks and bays around New York Harbor, though she did pass through last month delivering a barge for service at the shipyard in Kingston.
In the background of the photo above, a DonJon Marine mud scow and tug are visible on the left, standing by during dredging operations at the cruise terminal. On the right, along the shore, can be seen facade pieces salvaged from the World Trade Center, part of a 9/11 memorial in Weehawken. Up above, the trees on Bergen Hill are beginning to turn green and pear trees are in full bloom on top of the cliff.
Crystal Cutler with the hospital in North Bergen visible ahead -
Sunday on the hip
Patrice McAllister spent Sunday anchored on the North River off 72nd Street with tank barge RCM 262 on the hip. This is the usual configuration we see up here for this tug and barge when the barge is light. As of Tuesday morning , new cargo has been loaded at a New Jersey terminal and the tug is en route to Providence via Long Island Sound.
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Cormorants are back
Double-crested cormorants have been fishing off the end of Pier i this week. These birds return to the North River every spring after wintering down south and feast on fish coming up the river to spawn.
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Passing Lackawanna
The Janice Ann Reinauer/RTC 84 ATB passed Hoboken’s Lackawanna terminal in light rain on Thursday afternoon. The unit was now underway but the crew would have just witnessed a tragic helicopter accident or the immediate aftermath of the crash a bit south of here and had been holding position for over an hour mid-river near the scene during the initial rescue efforts. The Lackawanna terminal was once the eastern terminus of the Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad and later the Erie Lackawanna. It is the only one of several such rail/ferry terminals which once existed along the North River which is still serving in its original role. The clock tower is actually a replacement completed in 2008–the original was removed in the 1950s after storm damage.
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Helicopter Crash
A helicopter has crashed on the North River this afternoon, with the aircraft falling into the water near the Jersey City shoreline by the Holland Tunnel vents. The Coast Guard confirmed that all occupants were killed, including one pilot and five passengers. The AP reports the FDNY said the call came in at 3:17 p.m. Witnesses told AP the helicopter appeared to come apart in the air.
The FDNY, USCG, NYPD all responded, along with boats from the North Jersey Fireboat Task Force, including Edgewater’s boat which had been on the water all day training. FDNY’s Marine 1 company responded quickly from their Chelsea base with their small “alpha” boat and was on the scene by 3:23 p.m., but the large Firefighter II boat later also came up from Staten Island along with Marine 6 boats from Brooklyn. Army Corps of Engineers and NYS DEC police were also on the scene, including the Corp’s Drfitmaster with its large crane.
Source: Marine Traffic 
Firefighter II heading for the scene 
The Janice Ann Reinauer ATB was passing by just around the time of the crash and held position mid-channel for about an hour before proceeding north.
Janice Ann Reinauer and a NY Waterway ferry held position near the crash site
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 