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Farewell Friesland
The Dutch naval patrol ship visiting at the south side of Pier 88 made an early departure with an assist from a McCallister tug. By the end of the day she was motoring east at 15 knots, signaling a return to the Netherlands on AIS after spending the past 3 months on patrol in the Dutch Antilles.
Dutch navy ship heads for home, passing the Norwegian Gem at anchor. Bayonne Bridge visible in the haze in the far distance The Norwegian Gem was back from a 5-day trip to Bermuda and tied up on the north side of Pier 88. She is scheduled to head down to the Caribbean this afternoon. There seems to be some dredging and other work happening around the terminal this week.
Work tugs tied up on the north side of Pier 90 while the Gem looms up from Pier 88 
The DEP’s Red Hook was servicing the North River plant today 
Haggerty Girls pushing a loaded barge upriver 
Water birds enjoy low tide on the remnants of New York Central’s Pier C 
Brant geese operating north of Pier 99 -
The story of Teresa
When we published our article The barges (and other big boats) in your backyard in the West Side Rag a few weeks ago, a number readers indicated they wanted to know more about the tug/barge combination that was anchored in the river at around 94th Street for many weeks on end. It seems some residents had noticed the vessel and understood how unusual this extended stay was. With some digging through court records and a bit of historical AIS data I was able to pull together a story. The AT/B got caught up in a legal dispute between the owners and a bunkering company and was “arrested” by Federal warrant while in dry dock in Brooklyn. After initially, anchoring in the Upper Bay, the Coast Guard had her move up to the North River on around January 21, and there she remained until leaving this past weekend. For more details, please see today’s story in the West Side Rag: https://www.westsiderag.com/2022/04/13/farewell-teresa
The Teresa is currently cruising past Florida. Meanwhile, back on the river today, midday observations indicate another glorious afternoon is in store. There has been some good traffic on the river as well. Stephen Reinauer came through with its barge loaded in Perth Amboy heading upriver.
Stephen Reinauer heading north with a loaded barge The DEP’s Rockaway was servicing the North River sewage plant, heading to pick up residual solids for dewatering at the centrifuges at Ward’s Island or Hunts Point.
DEP’s Rockaway heading for a pickup as a Waterway ferry passes astern The Wagenborg Alaskaborg freighter came through heading for Port of Albany, arriving from Sweden. These vessels are usually carrying wood pulp destined for paper mills up north.
More wood pulp heading for Albany The Fells Point came through with a barge loaded in Linden NJ, also heading north.
Vane Brothers Fells Point pushing upriver Pier 88 had a new visitor, with the Dutch naval patrol boat Friesland tied up on the south side of the pier, opposite the old Growler submarine at the Intrepid museum. According to news reports, Friesland has been operating in the Dutch Antilles since January and was recently involved in a major drug seizure operation in cooperation with the US Coast Guard. The Tugster blog today has great detail on the ship’s history and design.
Dutch navy patrol vessel visiting NYC after Caribbean patrol -
Spring at last (again)
Rainy skies in the morning gave way to a glorious afternoon with temperatures in the 70s. The fire boat William Feehan was back in the river doing what looked like recovery drills off Pier i, with a man in the water and a life ring.
FDNY drilling with a man and a life ring in the water Later, the NYPD’s 62’ harbor launch the P.O. Harry R Ryman was also in the river, seen here overtaking the Buchanan12 pushing hoppers back up to Clinton Point and a utility boat and passing a yacht.
Two-way traffic 
Personal watercraft enjoying the sun north of the Boat Basin -
Still cold
It does not feel like spring yet, with temperatures below 50 and tough northwest wind. The anchorages looked strangely empty Sunday morning with the Teresa having left us, though Curtis Reinauer would arrive and anchor in the afternoon.
Nobody home The Vane Brothers’ Fort McHenry pushed a loaded barge from Linden NJ heading upriver in the morning. Afternoon saw the Stephen B pushing a very small loaded tank barge upriver.
Stephen B with a small loaded tanker barge Hoppers were moving in both directions, with Robert Burton towing some empty Buchanan Marine barges north, probably heading for the Clinton Point quarry, and Mr. Jim coming through with barges loaded with large rocks and gravel from Coeymans.
Robert Burton towing empty Buchanan hoppers north 
Mr. Jim pushing rocks south, passing anchored Curtis Reinauer at slack tide Norwegian Getaway arrived early at Pier 88 and was still there at 17:00 but scheduled to follow the Gem to Bermuda today.
Norwegian Getaway at Pier 88 -
Vale Teresa!
Teresa has left the building. The tug/barge combination that has been anchored in the North River for several months pulled up its hook at around midday and headed to sea, currently moving south down the Jersey Shore with no clear destination signaled on AIS. The reasons for the Teresa’s extended residence were never completely clear, but the ship was subject to a legal dispute and it is understood a sale is in process or perhaps has been completed to a new owner. The tug may also be reflagged back to US registry now, but MarineTraffic is still showing the Liberian flag. Today’s departure leaves the North River empty of anchored AT/Bs for the first time in months, with the river looking clear up to Kingston.
Teresa heading south, source: MarineTraffic Meanwhile, the Norwegian Gem arrived at Pier 88 in the morning and was turned around to leave by the end of the day and heading for Bermuda. Barbara Carol Ann Moran, which we saw pushing a lightly loaded barge up to Albany two days ago, came through empty heading for the harbor and perhaps continuing on to the Delaware River (the South River for the old Dutch) where she came from.
Norwegian Gem and a bunkering barge at Pier 88 
Barbara Carol Ann Moran follows Norwegian Gem towards the harbor as storm clouds threaten -
Spring at last?
Thursday ended with heavy rain, fog and lightening, but skies cleared Friday and temperatures rose. There was a lot of activity on the river, both commercial and recreational and I was able to get on the river myself for the first time in months, though not with much time for photography. I was happy to be ON the river but would not want to be IN the river today, with Thursday’s heavy rain keeping a strong out current overwhelming the flood tide and likely carrying a lot of nasty runoff and combined sewer overflow with it. The DEP’s site (https://www1.nyc.gov/site/dep/water/waterbody-advisories.page ) showed no combined sewer overflows in the Hudson itself on Thursday but did show overflow in the Harlem, Bronx River and Gowanus, and what is happening upstate from New York City is anyone’s guess.
A beautiful day on the river Kimberly Polling came up the river with a loaded barge from Bayonne, made a big loop in the river at about Pier 99 and then headed back south, around the Battery and then headed through Hell Gate and up the Sound. A strange routing, perhaps reflecting a need to let traffic clear the East River.
Kimberly Polling pushing a loaded barge south after making a loop 
Janice Ann Reinauer returning from Newburgh with an empty barge, passing Weehawken 
What a contrast with Thursday night! A bulker heads through the fog for Albany, sounding its horn in 60 second intervals -
More rain
A low pressure system has camped out over New York, sucking in moisture and rain for a second day. There was a bit of northbound traffic worth noting in the morning. The Janice Ann Reinauer came through with a loaded barge from Bayonne heading to Newburgh.
Janice Ann pushing for Newburgh, passing anchored Adeline M. and Teresa Captain Dann came through pulling a large Weeks Marine crane, with a tug owned by Weeks also pushing from behind. By the end of the day they had passed the Bear Mountain Bridge and still seemed to be underway.
Pushing and pulling a big crane upriver Weather steadily deteriorated into the afternoon. Dann Marine’s Coral Cost, which started the day in Flushing Bay, came through with an empty cement barge heading back to the Lafarge plant in Ravenna and overtook the Evelyn Cutler pushing product loaded in Cateret towards Albany.
Empty cement barge overtakes loaded oil can Municipal services continued to operate, with Donjon Marine moving paper for recycling to Staten Island, with the cargo presumably arriving pretty wet. The DEP’s Rockaway tanker was servicing the North River plant for a change, instead of the Red Hook which has been doing the honors recently.
Paper heads through the fog for recycling 
DEP’s Rockaway loaded with sludge being overtaken by the Edgewater ferry 
Adeline Marie and Teresa at anchor in the fog 
Pier i cafe will open for the season tomorrow according to a worker -
Some less frequent visitors
Northeast winds and intermittent rain arrived on Wednesday and anchorages have filled up again somewhat ahead of more bad weather tomorrow, though with AT/Bs less frequently seen on the North River. Cape Lookout arrived early with an empty barge from Providence and dropped anchor at around 70th Street and was later joined by Adeline Marie which anchored between Cape Lookout and the Teresa.
Adeline Marie briefly was leased by Unico Commodities, the same company listed as registered owner of Teresa (though a sale of Teresa appears to be in process) and operated under the name Rubia, but that arrangement ended last year according to http://www.tugboatinformation.com and Rubia became Adeline. Cape Lookout is owned by Kirby, which is also a former owner of Teresa, again according to tugboatinformation.com . Meanwhile, Dean Reinauer returned from Newburgh and dropped anchor north of the bridge. By the end of the day, Lookout had left us and headed down to the harbor, but was replaced by Kristin Polling with its barge Eva Leigh Cutler, returning from New Haven and headed further upriver to anchor.
Adeline Marie and the Teresa anchored, with Dean Reinauer faintly visible beyond the GWB 
Army Engineers boat passes Cape Lookout at slack tide 
Eva Leigh arriving from New Haven with her empty barge Barbara Carol Ann Moran, another tug we do not see often here, came through with what might have been a partially loaded barge, arriving from the Delaware River and heading for Albany, a somewhat atypical movement for oil products.
Barbara Carol Ann passes Cape Lookout heading for Albany 
A J80 with no foresail rigged passing the Lincoln Tunnel vents -
Home alone
Lots of activity on the river Tuesday as winds calmed and temperatures were at least stable. The tug Teresa, which has been anchored with its barge in the river for several months now amid operational/legal complications, made a morning departure, uncoupling from its barge and heading down to a fuel dock on the Arthur Kill for most of the day. The barge was left alone in the river, anchored but with no tug boat. This is unusual to say the least and the first time I have ever seen this, though the moves were presumably sanctioned by the Coast Guard. By late afternoon, the Teresa had returned to its charge. Teresa was shadowed by a pilot boat on its return. These do not usually come up the North River and it briefly came alongside after the Teresa had rejoined the barge, suggesting a pilot may have assisted in that procedure, though why that would be the case is not clear. As usual with Teresa, there are more questions than answers.
Teresa leaves its barge behind for the day to refuel 
Teresa returns to its barge, passing DEP tanker Red Hook 
Accompanied by a pilot boat Earlier in the day, the Coast Guard’s Katherine Walker, a buoy tender, headed north, with red and green buoys visible on her deck. By the end of the day she had reached the Bear Mountain Bridge. Somewhere along the way, she will have passed the Coast Guard 65’ harbor tug Line, which is based up in Saugerties New York and came south to the Bayonne Coast Guard Station.
Katherine Walker heads north with buoys on deck 
Saugerties based USCGC Line pays a visit to the Bayonne The FDNY’s Fireboat Feehan came up from the Chelsea dock and did some drills with a life ring and a man in the water in the lee of Pier 99.
FDNY practicing water rescue Dann Marine’s Treasure Coast came through pushing a cement barge from the Lafarge plant up in Ravenna and heading for the Lafarge depot in Brooklyn. Mr. Jim came down from Coeymans with several barges, including one loaded with large rocks.
Cement heading for Brooklyn 
Mr. Jim pushing rocks Recreational activity is also picking up, with a paddle boarder and large sailboat seen, and a Hudson River Community Sailing J80 making an appearance.
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Heading back to work
Northeast winds brought periodic rain to the river on Sunday. The big Reinauer jamboree in the North River broke up, with Haggerty Girls making an early departure and heading for the company dock in Staten Island, Kristy Ann making a morning run down to the IMTT Terminal in Bayonne, and Dean also heading in that direction. By the end of the day, only the Curtis remained.
Curtis Reinauer and the Teresa at anchor 
Dean passes Weehawken and a ferry en route to Bayonne The Norwegian Epic had left us after sundown on Saturday and was replaced at Pier 88 by the smaller Norwegian Breakaway, arriving at sunrise. The Breakaway made its usual quick turnaround and was on its way back south by 16:00, heading for Florida and the Bahamas. After this trip, the Breakaway will be switching things up and making a couple of runs to Bermuda.
Norwegian Getaway at Pier 88
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 