-
Traveling light
Weekend traffic was light but a handful of tug/barge combinations remained anchored in the North River, with the Dylan Cooper ATB off Edgewater and Centerline’s Adeline Marie a bit further south Sunday, and the B. Franklin in between before heading for the Upper Bay Saturday. Centerline’s William J Fallon also anchored south of Adeline on Sunday with what looked like a loaded tanker barge Long Island.
Light tugs were moving on the North River, with Justine McAllister, rarely seen on the River, traveling up to Yonkers Saturday to meet the bulker Baltic Scorpion which anchored there after earlier departing the Buchanan wallboard factory. Bunkers don’t normally anchor off Yonkers and the Scorpion may have experienced some mechanical issue which required her to stop and brought the tug up just in case. In any event, Justine departed later in the day and Scorpion sailed for Canada, with any mechanical concerns apparently resolved. On Sunday, Centerline’s HMS Liberty arrived light to pay a brief visit to the anchored Adeline Marie, perhaps delivering equipment or crew.
Justine McAllister ran light up to Yonkers where they met the bulker Baltic Scorpion anchored there, perhaps addressing some mechanical issue. 
On Sunday HMS Justice paid a brief visit to the anchored Adeline Marie and Marc II ATB 
Dann’s Ruby Coast ran light returning to their sugar barge in Yonkers after visiting the facilities on the Kill van Kull. 
Dann’s Coral Coast came down from Ravenna with a cement transporter barge, heading for a local terminal. 
Centerline’s William F Fallon passed Pier 99 en route to anchorage off 72nd with the loaded tanker Long Island, perhaps awaiting a bunkering assignment at the cruise terminal. 
Vane’s Fort McHenry had earlier handled the bunkering assignment for Norwegian Joy docked at Pier 88 
Ahead of Joy’s early evening departure for Bermuda 
Janice Ann Reinauer and RTC 103 had cargo heading for Newburgh, passing the North River Lobster Company’s Discovery on one and the anchored William F Fallon. 
Dylan Cooper was visible south of the bridge in the morning haze Sunday 
On Saturday, Adeline Marie and B. Franklin Reinauer were at anchor. 
The DEP’s veteran North River sludge tanker was servicing its eponymous treatment plant. 
The restored fire boat John J. Harvey took a turn on the River from its Pier 66 home. 
One of the Pier I regulars caught a dusky smooth hound fish Saturday morning. He threw it back in. 
A Hoboken Sailing Club J80 used its spinnaker to head upriver Saturday as winds blew from the south. 
A large NYPD launch overtook a sailing vessel. 
This odd converted landing craft work boat headed north without AIS signal. 
A great blue heron presided over the old New York Central piers off 69th Street, almost exactly a year after we saw a heron in this spot previously. ©2024 Daniel Katzive Uncategorized -
Turkish cement
A bulk ship came up the North River Wednesday heading for the Cementon dock in Catskill, NY. The cement plant there has been closed for years, but Heidelberg Cement appears to have converted it into an import terminal. The SSI Marvelous was arriving from Turkey after first spending some time partially unloading the Heidelberg dock in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Otherwise traffic has been typical this week, with Dylan Cooper and B. Franklin Reinauer remaining parked in the anchorages.
SSI Marvelous heads for Catskill NY Wednesday with a cargo of Turkish cement. 
NYS Marine Highway’s Maddie K had stone hoppers coming south Thursday 
Centerline’s Jeffrey S killed some time on the North River Thursday with the 400’ barge Patsy Paulie, previously seen on the River with the tug The Beatrice. 
The next day, Centerline’s Adeline Marie moved up the North River with the Marc II barge, passing a Circle Line boat on two, while on the far side of the river, Henry Marine’s Dorothy J brought a barge loaded with what looked like containers and construction equipment and a power boat back from Verplanck. 
They were passed at anchor by the Dylan Cooper/RTC 108 ATB returning to the River after visiting the company facilities on the Kill van Kull. It was a tight squeeze for the Edgewater ferry moving between them and passing Dylan on one. 
Patrice McCalister returned to the Harbor with RCM 262 on the hip after completing a delivery from Delaware City to Albany. 
Mary Turecamo headed for Buchanan Friday to help a sheet rock bulker leave the dock at the wallboard plant. 
A cormorant aired things out on old New York Central pilings Friday morning. -
Local traffic
After a run of days with foreign flagged vessels heading upriver, the final week of July has brought mainly local vessels on familiar routes. The North River anchorages remained busy. While Lincoln Sea returned to the Upper Bay, Dylan Cooper remained in place and was joined by B. Franklin Reinauer and Kimberly Poling.
Buchanan12 is about as frequent a traveler on the North River as you are likely to find. Vessel made their daily run down from the Clinton Point quarry as usual on Sunday, passing the monastery at Englewood Cliffs. 
Dylan Cooper and RTC 108 remained anchored of 72nd Street. 
They were joined by the smaller B. Franklin Reinauer/RTC 81 
Marylin George headed north with a loaded Noelle Cutler barge on Sunday, passing the Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Grey Bridge. 
Kimberly Poling traveled down to the Upper Bay from Yonkers anchorage with the Edwin A. Poling barge, then turned around in a squall and came back to anchor on the North River. 
Saint Emilion returned from Albany Monday with A87 light 
Fort Schuyler was heading for Rensselaer with a loaded tanker barge. 
A Dann tug brought a cement transporter barge down from Ravenna and headed for a distribution terminal Monday. 
A pair of Dann tugs arrived from Palm Beach Tuesday with the Knot Refined sugar barge, heading for the Yonkers Domino plant 
DonJon Marine had a load of scrap from Albany heading for the Harbor Tuesday The Coast Guard cutter Katherine Walker, which maintains navigation aids in NY Harbor and up the Hudson, headed for the Coast Guard mooring south of the Bridge Tuesday. 
A Coast Guard 29’ response boat was checking on boaters Sunday after an unidentified vessel was heard requesting help over VHF channel 16. 
The NYPD was also keeping an eye out. 
And had an airship up earlier in the day, perhaps for unrelated reasons. 
A Chinook flew up Monday, with two pairs of boots hanging out the rear door. 
Stasinos’s Charles James returned to the harbor after dropping a deck barge off in Verplanck. 
Patrice McAllister was heading back to the Delaware River again on Sunday with RCM 262 on the wire after spending some time anchored on the North River. They passed the anchored Lincoln Sea/DBL 140 ATB on the way out. Patrice seems to be making runs to Albany from the Delaware City refinery of late. 
A ring billed gull enjoyed breakfast on Pier i Monday morning. -
Gypsum delivery
The wallboard plant in Buchanan is one of two receivers of bulk freight on the Hudson in Westchester, the other being the Yonkers Domino refinery. On Friday, a 655’ bulk ship, about as long as any vessel likely to be seen heading up the North River beyond the cruise terminal, arrived with a shipment of gypsum from Garrucha, Spain, preceded by two Moran tugs from the Harbor to help with docking as usual. Weekend traffic was otherwise typical, with Reinauer and Dann Marine moving oil products cargos north as waves of thunderstorms and heavy rain continued to move through the area.
The 655’ Baltic Scorpion brought a cargo of Spanish gypsum up the North River, passing a Circle Line boat on two en route to the wallboard plant in Buchanan, NY on Friday. 
As usual, a pair of Moran tugs came up from the Harbor to help the bulker dock at the Buchanan plant. 
The B. Franklin/RTC 81 ATB came though with a cargo heading north on Saturday. 
Stephen Dann, not usually seen moving tanker barges upriver, came through with a cargo heading for Newburgh Friday. 
Discovery Coast, a Dann pusher tug more often seen on the North River, was close behind, heading for the terminal at New Hamburg, NY. 
Norwegian Joy was in port Sunday, with a refueling barge left alongside as disembarking passengers waited for transportation. 
Vane’s Elk River travelled up to collect the barge later in the day as sail boats got some time on the water ahead of approaching storms. 
The US Naval Academy’s four yard patrol boats were in town on their summer training cruise, tied up at Pier 86. 
George Holland had a load of crushed stone heading for Port Washington. 
The DEP’s Rockaway was servicing the North River plant Sunday 
Poling-Cutler’s Marilyn George returned from Albany with the Noelle Cutler barge light on Friday. 
Kimberly Poling headed the other way with a loaded Edwin A. Poling on Sunday evening. 
Patrice McCallister arrived on the North River Sunday evening with RCM 262. As usual when Patrice’s barge is light, the tow was made alongside and heads/tails. ©2024 Daniel Katzive Uncategorized -
Summer doldrums
The heat wave continued in the Northeast, though moderate 7 knot breezes provided some relief. North River traffic saw mostly familiar vessels as we moved through the middle of the week.
The Haggerty Girls/ RTC 107 ATB came south from Albany Wednesday heading for Boston with the barge fully loaded with what was most likely an ethanol cargo. 
Metropolitan Marine’s Normandy was heading for Yonkers Wednesday to assist with maneuvering sugar barges at the Domino refinery. 
Centerline’s riverine tow boat Jillian Irene had business up north Wednesday, disappearing off AIS around the Hyde Park anchorages. By Thursday afternoon she was back in the Harbor. 
Centerline’s Adeline Marie ATB was anchored off 96th Street midweek. 
Nicole Leigh and RTC 135, one Reinauer’s biggest ATB’s with the barge 460’ and the tug 119’ long, returned light from Newburgh Thursday. 
Kristin Poling returned from an Albany run with the light Eva Leigh Cutler barge, scattering sailboats and passing Adeline Marie at anchor. Eemsborg headed back to sea Thursday after discharging its cargo of Swedish wood pulp in Albany. 
DonJon’s Sarah Ann worked the DSNY’s Pier 99 recycling facility. 
The cruise ship Viking Neptune returned from a trip to Norway early Thursday. 
Vane’s Fells Point made a wide turn leaving the cruise terminal after bunkering Cardival Venezia 
Venezia was soon heading out on a short roundtrip to Bermuda. ©2024 Daniel Katzive Uncategorized -
Summer traffic
Tuesday saw the North River anchorages empty out, with all but the Saint Emilion moving on. Reinauer ATBs and CMT tugs were moving product and a bulker headed upriver. There was not yet much sign of impact from flooding up north, though the DEP’s water monitoring vessel was seen on the River, perhaps also checking for impact from a sewage leak in Tarrytown over the weekend. Military helicopter traffic was heavy.
The bulk ship Devbulk Sare headed north with no destination showing on AIS. 
The Dean Reinauer/RTC 106 combination was heading for Newburgh again with cargo. 
B. Franklin Reinauer left their anchorage off 96th Street and headed down the Arthur Kill to Raritan Bay 
DonJon’s Sarah Ann pushed empty hoppers north, probably to collect scrap. 
CMT’s Mackenzie Rose headed back to their Coeymans base with hoppers loaded with what was probably salt. 
Colleagues on Helen followed close behind with stone, passing the still-anchored Saint Emilion. 
Diamond Coast was light heading back to Yonkers to rejoin a sugar barge. 
A Coast Guard Jayhawk from Cape Cod flew up the North River making a loop around Manhattan and returning to base via Gabreski in Westhampton. 
A pair of Army Black Hawks flew up the River, one equipped with an external fuel tank 
A pair of Marine Super Stallions from Heavy Helicopter Squadron 464 in North Carolina also flew north. 
The NYC DEP’s Osprey, a water monitoring vessel, was on the North River, making a loop around Manhattan and perhaps evaluating water quality after Sunday’s storms up north. ©2024 Daniel Katzive Uncategorized -
Post Deluvian
New York Harbor and the North River escaped the worst of yesterday’s heavy rains, but the Hudson Valley was hard hit to the north on Sunday, with severe flooding. The water will flow south this week, extending ebbs, shortening floods, brining all types of debris with it, and, possibly, turning the water brown. There was no obvious sign of this yet on Monday though. The day saw some fairly typical traffic, with the most notable vessel a foreign flagged tanker heading for sea after likely unloading a European products cargo in Albany. T
The Saint Emilion, B. Franklin Reinauer, and Philadelphia remained anchored in the North River, but the Lincoln Sea pulled up their hook and relocated to the Upper Bay. Something brought multiple police agencies to the River south of the Bridge in the late morning, with Coast Guard, NYPD, NYS DEC and Westchester County PD all gathering there.
NJ State Police’s Jersey City boat headed for the Bridge Monday morning 
NYS DEC police also headed that way 
As did a Coast Guard 29’ response boat 
And the NYPD’s launch 9 (seen here heading back to base later). 
A smaller NYPD launch headed north later, probably for unrelated reasons. 
Marylin George had the Eva Leigh Cutler barge loaded and heading for Albany in the morning. 
Portuguese flagged tanker Harbour Fashion headed for Quebec after probably unloading a Dutch cargo of refined products or possibly loading an ethanol cargo for export to Canada. 
The Dean Reinauer/RTC 106 ATB returned from Newburgh light, passing the Lincoln Sea/DBL 140 combo at anchor. 
Lincoln Sea later muscled DBL 140 into the ebb and headed for the Upper Bay. 
Sapphire Coast headed back to Ravenna with a light cement barge. 
Saint Emilion and A87 continued to swing at anchor with the tide off 72nd Street The Army Corp’s Gelberman was looking for debris on the North River, with flood waters likely to reach the Harbor soon. ©2024 Daniel Katzive Uncategorized -
Stormy weekend
Commercial traffic was very light over the second weekend of July, while intermittent storms kept recreational boaters on their toes. Four tug/barge combinations dropped anchor in the North River, while escorted swimmers moved through Sunday evening despite periods of heavy rain.
Kirby’s very large Lincoln Sea/DBL 140 ATB spent the weekend off the Boat Basin. The large barge extends 474’ long. 
Stain Emilion arrived with barge A87 and anchored to the south 
The B. Franklin Reinauer/RTC 81 ATB was a bit to north. RTC 81 is 347’ long. 
Curtis Reinauer and RTC 82 were moving product north to Albany Saturday evening, passing the anchored Lincoln Sea ATB 
Vane’s Philadelphia was further north still, off Edgewater. 
The private commuter RHIB made an atypical Sunday run back to Westchester, passing J80 sailboats enjoying good wind before the storms arrived. 
Outrigger canoes got an early paddle in Sunday 
Escorted swimmers passed the Englewood Marina Sunday afternoon, undeterred by intermittent storms NYPD launch 662 was escorting the swimmers, perhaps because of the poor visibility during squalls. The launch came close to the Dyckman Marina but did not stop. -
Newark tragedy
Thursday brought another morning of sad maritime news as two Newark firefighters were confirmed to have died in a fire on a ConRo ship in Port Newark loading used cars for export to West Africa. Smoke was not visible from the North River in the morning haze, but the North River based FDNY fireboat 343 did respond to the scene in the morning, relieving Staten Island-based Firefighter II, the FDNY’s other large fireboat, which had been on the scene all night. Meanwhile, the hot day saw typical traffic on the River.
FDNY’s 343 boat arrived on the scene at 9:23 am. Source: MarineTraffic 
Relieving Firefighter II which had been there since 1:15 am. Source: MarineTraffic 
Evelyn Cutler returned with the Edwin A Poling barge after a delivery to Albany 
Nathan G brought a stone cargo south, heading for an asphalt plant in Cederhust on Jamaica Bay 
Carolina Coast arrived from Florida with a sugar barge heading for the Domino refinery in Yonkers 
Timothy L Reinauer, with classic 1979 lines topped by a rebuilt tower and augmented with ATB fittings, pushed a loaded RTC 84 towards Albany 
Vane’s Philadelphia returned from her eponymous city with a light barge and headed for North River anchorages. 
Philadelphia passed Pinuccia on one as the latter was returning from Newburgh 
A Navy E-2D Hawkey made a loop up the North River at 1000 feet, flying from the VAW 121 Squadron base in Norfolk. -
A grim discovery
Wednesday got off to a sad start on the North River with the discovery of a decomposed body pinned by the ebb tide against A Dock at the Boat Basin Marina, something which is not as unusual as it should be. Police cleared the scene quickly, and life went back to normal, with typical traffic and some long distance swimmers passing through.
FDNY Marine 1’s Alpha boat initially responded to the report of a person in the water. But Harbor Patrol Boat 9 took over 
And land-based ESU officers attended to the unhappy task 
Meanwhile, life went on on the North River. Royal Wagenborg’s Eemsborg cargo ship headed for Albany with a load of wood pulp for paper refineries up north. 
Carnival’s Venezia returned to her homeport with assistance from Moran Towing in the morning smokey haze. 
Coral Coast brought a loaded cement barge south from the Ravenna, NY plant, heading for the terminal in College Point, Queens 
Vane’s Fells Point was heading the other way with a loaded tanker barge 
Vane colleagues on Cape Fear made a wide turn leaving the cruise terminal after refueling Venezia, and passed the DEP tanker Red Hook on one whistle 
Susan Rose brought light RCM 260 up to Yonkers anchorage and visited the pier there. 
The Janice Ann Reinauer/RTC 103 combination headed for Albany with cargo. 
Buchanan12 had a smaller than usual consist heading back to Clinton Point quarry 
Army Corp’s Gelberman was on patrol for hazards to navigation in the North River. 
A swimmer with a Mexican-flagged kayak escort passed through on the afternoon ebb. ©2024 Daniel Katzive Uncategorized
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 