-
Ships that pass
The municipal tanker Rockaway was heading for the North River water treatment plant Saturday morning and preparing to pass the Greek-flagged supply ship Astrea. Astrea has been working on the Champlain Hudson Power Express project further north and was returning to Port Newark, probably for resupply or service. Rockaway was going to load a cargo of sewage sludge for dewatering at the Passaic Valley Water Commission plant, also in Newark.
-
Exporting scrap
NOTE: I have moved away from long form posts on this Blog for the time being and have been doing shorter updates on the Blog’s Facebook and Instagram feeds. Going forward, I will add those posts here as well.
Canny Caroline, a 575 foot bulk ship, came up the North River Thursday morning, heading for the scrap dock in Rensselaer. They will likely load scrap metal for export there.
©2024 Daniel Katzive Uncategorized -
The Return of LCU 1657
NOTE: I have moved away from long form posts on this Blog for the time being and have been doing shorter updates on the Blog’s Facebook and Instagram feeds. Going forward, I will try to add those posts here as well.
Landing Craft Utility 1657 came up the North River Thursday, in tow with a small tugboat RF Pierson V. They were not pinging AIS so origin and destination are unknown, but we saw the same LCU going north back in March 2022. LCU 1657 was launched in 1971 and sold at GSA auction in 2020 and you can find photos on line of it in service as late as 2004. RF Pierson is a construction company and the LCU appeared to be carrying lumber or some other cargo or debris.
©2024 Daniel Katzive Uncategorized -
Tuesday September 17–familiar workers
Cement has been moving on the North River this week. Just after sunrise Tuesday, Coral Coast brought a loaded cement transporter barge down from the Holcim plant in Ravenna (formerly known as the Lafarge plant in Ravenna). They were heading for the terminal on Flushing Bay. 
Just 12 hours earlier at sunset Monday, Pearl Coast came the other direction with an empty cement transporter barge heading back up to the plant. 
Carver Marine Towing’s Mackenzie Rose came down from the company’s Coeymans port facility Monday with a high-sided hopper loaded with stone. They headed for the Greenville flats off Jersey City. 
After the DEP’s old Udalls Cove barge was called out of reserve last week to service the North River sewage plant (see September 10 update), the plant was back to being serviced by tanker again Monday, with the Red Hook doing the honors though three of the agency’s five tankers appear to remain off line. 
The Army Corps Of Engineers patrol boat Moritz made the rounds Monday. 
The Reinauer Twins/RTC 104 ATB, one of the the larger Reinauer combinations based in New York, returned to the harbor after delivering product in Albany and Newburgh. 
On Tuesday, the similarly sized Janice Ann/RTC 103 was heading north with a cargo, passing DonJon’s Mary Alice with a mud scow. 
Harley Marine’s Robert IV returned to the harbor Monday after a trip upriver. 
DonJon Marine’s Paul Andrew was standing by at the DSNY’s Pier 99 transfer facility for waste paper on Tuesday. 
A bit further south by Pier 90, another DonJon crew on the tug Mary Alice and the dredge Delaware Bay were commencing seasonal dredging operations for the cruise terminal. 
Further south again on Pier 88, DonJon’s Atlantic Enterprise waited with an empty mud scow in reserve for the dredgers with Norwegian Joy looming on the north side of the pier. 
Joy was being refueled with help from Vane’s Cape Fear as passengers disembarked. Joy is making cruises up to Quebec City through September before resuming Bermuda runs in October. ©2024 Daniel Katzive Uncategorized -
Tuesday September 10–unexpected appearance of the barge Udalls Cove
The NYC Department of Environmental Protection’s barge Udalls Cove dates back to a time in the 1980s when treated sewage sludge was still hauled 100 miles out to sea for dumping. Nowadays, sludge is ferried between D.E.P. plants by small tankers and converted to a fertilizer product, and the Udalls Cove barge usually sits tied up at Wards Island as a backup. But this week, the barge was back in service, brought to the North River wastewater plant by a pair of McAllister tugs. Perhaps the barge’s is needed due to the usual tankers being out of service. Two of the DEP’s five tankers are currently not pinging AIS and a third has been tied up at Wards Island for the past day at least.
A pair of McAllister tugs brought the DEP’s Udalls Cove barge up the North River on Monday 
And left it at the North River plant 
Dann Marine’s Discovery Coast, not often seen working the cruise terminal, brought a bunkering barge alongside the Seven Seas Grandeur. 
Later, a Moran tractor tug helped Grandeur leave for the Canadian Maritimes. 
Keeper of New York Harbor Katherine Walker passed Pier 66 mornings headed upriver to replace an extinguished navigation buoy north of the Cuomo Bridge 
Boston Marine’s Quenames had a Newburgh bound cargo on Tuesday, passing the anchoring Pocomoke. 
Pocomoke was seen Sunday as well, heading for a products terminal south of Albany with cargo. 
A 590’ bulk ship Patagonia passed through heading for Albany and arriving from Northern Europe, with wheat for the grain facility a possible cargo. 
Kristy Ann/RTC 80 left anchorage near Edgewater Monday and headed for the Upper Bay. 
Erin Elizabeth came down from Coeymans on Monday with piping on deck barges which she appeared to deliver to the Weeks yard in Bayonne 
Erin headed back north the next day with the barges light. 
A foreign flagged products tanker came down from Albany, low in the water, Quebec bound and possibly loaded with ethanol. 
A Coast Guard MH-65 dolphin came up the North River Tuesday, probably on a patrol from their Atlantic City base. 
Dace Reinauer and RTC 83 came through with an Albany bound cargo. ©2024 Daniel Katzive Uncategorized -
Friday September 6–Goodbye Summer
The North River has been busy in the days following Labor Day, with oil products and dry bulk on the move.
Saint Emilion and the A87 barge spent the early part of the week anchored off Edgewater. By the end of the week, they had headed to anchorage in the Upper Bay. 
Vanes Patuxent moved from anchorage off Yonkers to the Vane dock in Red Hook. 
Topaz Coast brought a sugar barge up from Florida to Yonkers on Tuesday and then ran light down to the Kill van Kull for servicing. 
By Friday, Topaz was towing the barge astern and heading for Florida, shadowed by Metropolitan Marine’s Normandy which had helped the barge leave the dock in Yonkers. 
Normandy had tied up at the end of Pier 86 on Tuesday, waiting to help land a bunkering barge alongside the Serenade of the Seas cruise ship at Pier 88. 
Serenade was transiting from Europe to autumn cruising grounds in the Caribbean 
The 650’ bulk ship Aquavita Wealth was high in the water heading or the Port of Coeymans, probably to load scrap for export back to Turkey. 
Genesis Vigilant headed for anchorage in Yonkers, passing the anchored Janice Ann Reinauer/RTC 103 ATB. 
Later, 1970s vintage Stephan Reinauer passed 2021 Janice Ann with a cargo heading for Albany. 
J. Arnold Witte was working DSNY’s waste paper transfer station before heading north to join the weekend Tugboat Roundup in Waterford, NY. ©2024 Daniel Katzive Uncategorized -
Thursday August 8–Running light
Heavy weather sitting over the region has kept demand elevated for anchorage space on the North River and up in Yonkers. A number of tugs have been seen running light over the past 48 hours, heading to or from assist jobs in Westchester or relieving tugs with barges anchored on the river.
Margaret Moran returned to the harbor Wednesday from helping to sail a 650’ bulk ship which had finished unloading gypsum at the Buchanan wall board plant. 
The bulk ship followed a short time later, emerging from the fog in steady rain and heading for sea, passing an anchored supply vessel boat in from offshore work. 
They passed Brice A. McAllister heading for Yonkers to help the Balsa 87 cargo ship leave the dock at the sugar plant. 
Balsa 87 headed for sea a few hours later, passing the anchored The Beatrice with Patsy Paulie. 
Metropolitan Marine’s Normandy headed for Yonkers Thursday, probably to help dock a sugar barge which had come up from Florida the week before and waited anchored in the river and now taking the space vacated by the Balsa 87. 
Saint Emilion returned to her A87 barge which had been left on the river in care of Evelyn Cutler while she visited facilities on Staten Island. 
Evelyn Cutler returned to the harbor after handing A87 over to the Saint, passing The Beatrice on the way. 
Adeline Marie brought the Flaco barge up to Yonkers anchorage on Wednesday. 
A Vane tug was barely visible at a mile distance as they backed a bunkering barge out of the cruise terminal in the rain on Wednesday. The crane in the background is at the Gateway Tunnel worksite another mile to the south. 
TowBoatUS’s heavy supply vessel Richard L Becker is normally based in Florida but was anchored on the North River, perhaps chartered out for wind projects up here and taking shelter from the storms. 
The Beatrice and Patsy Paulie remained anchored off North Bergen. 
Gracie M Reinauer had RTC 109 loaded with a cargo from Bayway heading for Albany or Newburgh. ©2024 Daniel Katzive Uncategorized -
Tuesday August 6 2024–Storm coming
Activity on the North River tends to pick up ahead of big storm systems as tugs with tanker barges head for anchorages on the estuary to escape the weather and vessels come in from offshore work. With a line of thunderstorms moving into the area and the after effects of hurricane Debby moving up the coast, Tuesday afternoon found four tug/barge combinations at anchor and more arriving.
The Beatrice with the 400’ long barge Patsy Paulie have been anchored off the Boat Basin since Monday morning. 
They were joined by another Centerline tug, the William F Fallon, Jr. and the barge Long Island which appeared to be laden with a cargo loaded at Bayway overnight and presumably waiting for better conditions to head for their destination. 
A third Centerline ATB, Adeline Marie arrived with the Marc N barge as rain began to come down. 
The big Reinauer Dylan Cooper/RTC 108 ATB came up from the Upper Bay and anchored off Grants Tomb. 
Janice Ann Reinauer/RTC 102 returned from a probable ethanol run to Providence and Boston… 
but rather than anchor, Janice Ann swapped barges with Morgan Reinauer waiting off Edgewater with a loaded RTC 103 barge brought down from Albany, and probably carrying more ethanol. 
Janice Ann took the RTC 103 barge and headed straight back for New England, taking the inside route on Long Island Sound to avoid the weather and was through the Gate and signaling Boston as the weather moved in. 
Morgan brought the light RTC 102 down to the Arthur Kill for a new cargo, passing The Beatrice on the way. 
Dusk came early and it was already dark as Susan Rose brought an RCM barge north. Susan was followed by Kirby’s Mt. Saint Elias, after it was too dark for photography. 
Patrice McAllister had a different plan. She returned from Albany with RCM 262 heads/tails on the hip and brought the barge to the Brooklyn waterfront and then headed for Bayonne. 
A U.S. flagged offshore supply vessel, the Northstar Navigator came in from wind turbine work offshore… 
And was heading for Albany, perhaps taking advantage of the weather disruption to take care of some service or load equipment there. 
A Sea Tow boat had unknown reasons for hanging around the shuttered Boat Basin. 
A Coast Guard MH-65 from Atlantic City flew a patrol up the river before the weather hit. 
Followed closely by a marine helicopter from Lakeland AFB on unknown business ©2024 Daniel Katzive Uncategorized -
July 24–passing storms
Buchanan12 headed north with light hoppers amid scattered showers on Monday evening. 
The bulk ship Bulk Colombia passed Pier 76 heading for Albany with a likely cargo of road salt loaded in Chile. 
The 650’ bulk ship Genco Vigilant was heading for Buchanan New York on Wednesday with a cargo of Spanish gypsum for the wallboard plant there. 
As usual, a pair of Moran tugs followed to help with docking at the plant. 
Coming the other way and heading for sea in the afternoon was Zea Servant. The cargo ship loaded a GE generator for export in Albany and was heading for Charleston, perhaps to loaded additional cargo. 
B. Franklin Reinauer/RTC 81 spent some time anchored off West New York after a Newburgh run but on Wednesday pulled up its hook and headed for the Kills. 
Genesis Energy’s Vision came up the river and spent a few days at anchorage off Yonkers. 
NYS MHT’s Maddie K had more cable for the Champlain Power Express project heading for Albany. 
Kristen Poling returned from Albany with the Eva Leigh Cutler barge 
The similar Marilyn George headed the other way with a loaded Noelle Cutler barge, passing the Little Island park at the old Pier 54 and the gold steeple of the New York Life building. 
CMT’s Helen had a light hopper on the hip heading back to Coeymans 
Timothy Reinauer, with classic lines still visible despite substantial upgrades, spent some time anchored off Edgewater on the way back from Albany before heading for the Kills. 
Carnival Venezia headed has been running regular cruises out of Pier 88, heading back to the Carribean Wednesday. 
Fort Schuyler was alongside with a bunkering barge as passengers disembarked earlier in the month. 
The NYC DEP’s new water sampling boat HSV Piping Plover was on the North River taking readings. 
A NOAA survey boat was also seen mapping the bottom. 
A paddle boarder fought the afternoon ebb heading north Wednesday. ©2024 Daniel Katzive Uncategorized -
Monday July 15–heat distortion
Treasure Coast came south early with a cement cargo from Ravenna, heading for Lafarge’s Bayonne terminal. 
Kimberly Poling brought the Edwin A Poling barge back from Albany, still displaying the unusual yellow (or very faded red) flag heading for the Tremley Point terminal on the Arthur Kill. 
Saint Emilion was also returning from up north with the light A87 barge, heading for KMI Carteret. 
Dace Reinauer is the oldest tug working tanker barges on the Hudson, though significantly upgraded over the years. They were heading for Newburgh with RTC 83. 
Heat was almost visible by the late afternoon as CMT’s Mister Jim brought scrap metal down from up north. 
Buchanan12 was back on the Clinton Point run after visiting Caddell’s last week and getting subbed for by George Hollander.
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 