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Monday June 3–Meteorological summer
Watch out for the wedding cake! Dann’s Discovery Coast kicked off the first work week of summer observations, returning from a delivery to a Rensselaer terminal with Double Skin 58 and heading for the company’s Red Hook dock. 
Janice Ann Reinauer/RTC 102 also came down from Albany but with the barge loaded, likely with ethanol. They were en route to Providence and, with conditions calm, took the offshore root along the south shore of Long Island. 
Kirby’s Mt St Elias ATB, last seen by NRN last March, was also on the North River with what looked like a loaded barge, though this cargo would have been taken on in New York Harbor, not Albany. The pair was anchored off Edgewater and later headed for the Upper Bay. 
Genesis Energy continues to park unused capacity in the North River, with Genesis Glory and GM 11105 back off North Bergen. 
Metropolitan Marine’s Pegasus helped Vane’s Kings Point maneuver the Double Skin 302 barge alongside the Japanese cruise ship Asuka II at Pier 88. 
The barge was left alongside as Asuka II refueled. Asuka II is at the half-way point of an around-the-world cruise and will head from here for the Panama Canal. 
Towboat Buchanan12 went about its usual business, brining empty stone hoppers from the Greenville flats back to Clinton Point. -
Thursday May 30–coming and going
Boston Marine Transport’s two tugs, Pinuccia and Quenames, and their barges New York 30 and New England 29, passed each other on the North River Thursday. Pinuccia’s barge was light, returning from Newburgh, while Quenames had a cargo, probably heading for Newburgh as well. 
Centerline’s William F Fallon Jr anchored off West New York overnight with the Long Island barge. 
The pair later headed for Bayway on the Arthur Kill, passing a J80 from Manhattan Yacht Club off Battery Park. Photo Credit: D. Ackman 
Sapphire Coast headed back to Ravenna with a light cement barge -
Wednesday May 29–light wind and clear skies
Nicole L Reinauer/RTC 105, the biggest Reinauer ATB operating in the northeast, spent some time anchored off 72nd Street Wednesday morning. The barge was perhaps partially loaded after spending time at the Bayway terminal on the Arthur Kill. The big unit later headed for anchorage in the Upper Bay. 
The much smaller Kristy Ann/RTC 80 came through later with cargo heading for Albany. 
Boston Marine’s Quenames came down from Newburgh with the barge light and headed for a spare dock in Port Reading. 
CMT’s Erin Elizabeth had stone hoppers coming from Hudson NY to the Greenville flats. 
Centerline’s The Beatrice remained anchored off Edgewater. 
J Arnold Witte headed for the Pier 99 transfer station 
Jersey City’s fireboat was far from home, venturing up the North River 
Later, the FDNY’s 343 boat was also on the river 
A Governors Island car ferry was also on the river for unknown reasons. -
Tuesday May 28–Back to work
USS Bataan left Pier 88 on the tail end of the morning ebb, heading for sea with no destination indicated on AIS though perhaps returning to Norfolk. 
Dann’s Treasure Coast headed for Bayonne with a cargo of cement manufactured in Ravenna. 
The Josephine ATB returned from Albany and headed for anchorage in the Upper Bay, passing the beams from the World Trade Center serving as a memorial in Weehawken. 
Two offshore tanker barges remained anchored in the North River Tuesday after Monday’s storm. Centerline’s The Beatrice was off Edgewater paired with a large barge. 
Genesis Energy’s Glory was off the Boat Basin with the 391’ GM11105. 
We learned today on the Tugster blog that these Genesis barges have bow thrusters, as indicated by the Maltese cross below the barge name. -
Thursday May 23: pre-holiday traffic
Josephine/RTC 83 headed up the North River early with a products cargo headed for Albany 
Foxy 3 brought a light hopper up from Greenville in the morning, heading for a marina in Verplanck 
They returned to the harbor light late in the afternoon 
American Petroleum’s 56’ towboat Diane B, not often seen on the North River, came through with a small tank barge heading north. 
Metropolitan Marine’s Normandy overtook the taco boat El Barque on the way up to Yonkers, probably to assist with positioning a barge at the sugar plant. 
The low slung J. Arnold Witte muscled a waste paper scow into the Pier 99 transfer station. 
Vane’s Schuylkill brought a fuel barge alongside the Europa 2 cruise ship at Pier 88. 
The USS Bataan on the south side of the pier also got a fuel delivery. 
Kimberly Poling returned from Albany with the Edwin Poling barge 
A Marine Super Stallion heavy lift helicopter made a loop up the river, turning at around 72nd Street. ©2024 Daniel Katzive Uncategorized -
Fleet Week 2024
The annual parade of ships kicked off Fleet Week New York and the Memorial Day weekend commemorations.
The USS Bataan was this year’s amphibious assault ship, recently returned from combat operations in the Red Sea. 
Bataan docked at Pier 88 with help from McAllister Towing. 
Littoral combat ship USS Marinette traveled up and down the North River before heading for Staten Island Homeport Pier. 
Coast Guard high endurance cutter Calhoun came up from Charleston. 
Germany sent a frigate. 
And a replenishment vessel, with shipping containers stacked forward. 
Moran boats assisted the replenishment vessel 
The FDNY 343 boat led the parade, along with the Army Corp’s drift collection vessel Gelberman trooping the colors. 
Bayonne-based Keeper of the Harbor Katherine Walker brought up the rear of the procession, also with a flag. 
Marine helicopters, a Venom and Viper, probably flying from Lakehurst, were overhead. 
A side view of the Venom. 
The NYPD was also in the air. 
The Marine VIP squadron flew down the river, presumably delivering VIPs though this appears to be one of the new VH-92 choppers which is not yet in full service. 
And on the water. 
Along with a Coast Guard 45’ boat from Staten Island 
And a launch from the NY Naval Militia based up north. 
And a boat from the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation Police carrying some heavily armed men who probably work for a different agency as German sailors watched. 
Commercial traffic resumed once the parade had concluded. The cargo ship BBC Utah headed for Coeymans, probably to deliver or pick up some heavy cargo. 
Boston Marine’s Quenames returned from a Newburgh run. 
Saint Emilion headed north again with A87 after loading new cargo in Carteret overnight. ©2024 Daniel Katzive Uncategorized -
Monday May 20–familiar faces
Familiar traffic moved up and down the North River Monday as temperatures climbed into the 70s.
The Army Corp’s Gelberman was on their usual daily patrol for hazards to navigation. 
Stasinos’s Charles James headed north on unknown business, passing Newburgh by 17:00. 
Poling-Cutler’s Marilyn George had the Noelle Cutler barge loaded with oil product and heading for Albany. 
Boston Towing’s Pinuccia and the New York 30 barge were also heading upstate, possibly only as far as Newburgh though. 
Buchanan12 was on their usual daily run returning empty hoppers to Clinton Point and passing Classic Harbor Lines’ Manhattan II on two. 
CMT’s Mister Jim had an extra large hopper barge with spuds loaded with what may have been salt lightered off the bulk ship Barrow Island in from Italy and anchored in the Upper Bay. They were heading back to Coeymans 
Saint Emilion, not seen by NRN since March when they headed into GMD Shipyard in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, was back on the river and reunited with the freshly painted A87 barge. Marilyn George brought the barge back from Rensselaer last week and it seems that the Saint made a delivery run up to Albany this weekend. -
May 15–wet Wednesday
The small cruise ship SH Diana arrived at Pier 88 early in the rain, coming in from the Bahamas. 
Nicole Leigh/RTC 135, Reinauer’s biggest ATB operating in the northeast, was on the North River briefly in the morning, making a slow trip up to Pier 99 after returning from Boston but then turning and heading back to the Upper Bay to anchor, then visiting the Erie Basin barge port before heading to the Bayonne IMTT. 
DonJon’s Thomas D Witte was working on salvage operations in Baltimore as recently as last week but today was back on the North River for the first time in a while, joining the dredging crew operating at the cruise terminal. 
Patrice McAllister left anchorage near the GWB where she has been for a couple of days and headed for the company base on the North Shore with RCM 260 heads/tails on the hip. 
NYS MHT’s Nathan G brought stone cargos down from Hudson NY heading for the Bay Ridge flats. 
They picked up a construction deck barge with what looked like spooled cable, presumably for the Champlain Power Express since the barge was named CHPE-1, and headed back upstate in the afternoon. 
George Holland was heading north with an empty hopper, probably picked up at the Greenville flats and heading for Clinton Point. 
Coast Guard 140’ icebreaker Sturgeon Bay came up the North River and anchored in Haverstraw Bay 
A trio of FDNY small boats, including a “Bravo” boat designed for medical rescue, travelled up the North River, perhaps for training. 
A mallard family near the Boat Basin. ©2024 Daniel Katzive Uncategorized -
Tuesday May 14–working boats
Henry Marine Service’s tug Robert IV brought a Weeks crane barge up the North River and stationed it off Pier 66 on Tuesday. The crane will be involved with soil studies in preparation for the beginning of work on the Gateway Tunnel, according to a Coast Guard information bulletin. 
DonJon crews continue to conduct maintenance dredging operations at the cruise terminal. The low-slung J. Arnold Witte is maneuvering mud scows at the site. 
And Atlantic Enterprise is towing loaded scows down to the dumping ground off Sandy Hook. 
The venerable Dace Reinauer is back on the North River heading upstate, but with a shorter barge than usual, the 300’ RTC 42. 
Poling-Cutler’s Marilyn George brought one of the company’s barges back from Albany, heading for the Kills. -
Wednesday May 8–hot wind and cold water
Buchanan12 headed back to Clinton Point with empty hoppers just before a thunderstorm moved through in the morning. 
Erin Elizabeth has been moving scrap recently and brought three hoppers full down from Coeymans down to the Sims metal dock in Jersey City. 
Erin passed Sapphire Coast on one. 
Sapphire was heading back to Ravenna with a light cement barge. 
A small powerboat ran aground in the Spuyten Duyvil Creek, bringing a Coast Guard 45’ response boat all the way up from the harbor. 
One of Harbor Charlie’s 35’ boats later returned from the area. 
A Metro North “maxibomb” rounded the curve at Spuyten Duyvil and headed for Westchester.
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 