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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.

  • Campbell and Long Island

    The Centerline Logistics tug C.F. Campbell, who we have not seen on North River Notes this year, came up here early Friday with the barge Long Island to anchor for the weekend. On the way up, she passed the anchored Kirby Mount St. Elias ATB which had spent most of the week anchored off Guttenberg. By Monday morning, Campbell and Long Island are still at anchor, seen in the morning haze visible to the right of the anchored Gracie M Reinauer ATB. Although it looks in the photo as if they are anchored near each other under the bridge, in fact Gracie is about 1/2 mile north of C.F. Campbell and three miles south of the bridge.

    ©2024 Daniel Katzive
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  • Horse of a different color

    Poling & Cutler’s Marilyn George came up the North River Thursday morning with an unfamiliar oil products barge. Rather than one of the company’s four familiar green and white painted tankers, Marilyn was pushing a blue and white painted barge Number Five which I’ve not seen before on the North River. The trip was otherwise a routine run up to an Albany terminal. By Sunday morning, Marilyn was back on the Arthur Kill.

    ©2024 Daniel Katzive
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  • Back again

    The Thomas Dann was back on the North River on Friday morning, returning from Rhode Island with the deck barge CBC Savannah on the wire and heading for the Port of Coeymans. Thomas has been making periodic trips upriver, picking up equipment for wind turbines, perhaps manufactured by GE Vernova in Syracuse, and bringing it back to Rhode Island. Thomas passed the Kirby Mount Saint Elias/DBL 81 ATB at anchor off Guttenberg this week, the first time we have seen this unit on the North River in 2025.

    ©2024 Daniel Katzive
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  • A little more sugar please

    The small Panama flagged bulk ship Century Royal came up the North River Thursday afternoon with a cargo of Mexican sugar loaded in Veracruz and heading for the Domino refinery in Yonkers. On the way up, the ship passed the anchored Vane tug Pocomoke with a loaded looking barge, seemingly killing some time before heading for a destination out on the Sound.

    Passing the anchored tug Pocomoke with a heavy barge

    Ellen McAllister came up from her usual territory in the harbor and preceded the 450-foot bulker upriver to provide assistance with docking (4th photo).

    Ellen McAllister heading up for docking assistance

    The Yonkers sugar plant more often receives domestic sugar cargos by barge, but also takes periodic imported shipments from by foreign flag ship. The 100+ year-old refinery is set to close before the end of the is year which means this could be one of the last such ships we see heading for Yonkers.

    ©2024 Daniel Katzive
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  • At the cofferdam

    New York State Marine Highway Transportation’s tug Nathan G was among several vessels working at the Gateway Tunnel cofferdam site on Tuesday morning. A day later, the Federal government announced it was withholding billions of dollars in funding for this project as well as the Second Avenue Subway tunnel. The news create uncertainty for the entire project but work continues with tugs on site Thursday morning as usual and how this ultimately plays out is of course anybody’s guess.

    ©2024 Daniel Katzive
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  • Up from the Gulf Coast

    The big Barbara Carol Ann Moran/Louisiana ATB, a 5,100 HP tug paired with a 468-foot barge, made rare trip up the North River Tuesday evening, heading for a terminal in Rensselaer. Similar to the last time we saw her in May of this year, her voyage appears based on what I can see on AIS trackers to have originated in New Orleans. On this week’s trip, she stopped first in Providence and then at the Sprague terminal in Port Morris, The Bronx before continuing on to Rensselaer, presumably unloading refined fuel products from the Gulf Coast at each stop. Most refined product cargos we see heading up the Hudson are loaded in New York Harbor but fuel can sometimes come up directly from the Gulf as appears to be the case here, though all the usual caveats apply about making educated guesses based solely on port calls.

    ©2024 Daniel Katzive
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  • Fill ‘er up

    The Vane Brothers tug Fells Point arrived on the North River on Tuesday with a fuel barge for delivery alongside the cruise ship Allura. Space on the water is compressed by the camera lens, so the sail boat and barge in the third photo are much further apart than they appear in the third photo, and the bridge is about 8 miles to the north. Allura will be running a few cruises up to Canada from here before heading for Miami.

    ©2024 Daniel Katzive
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  • Horse of a different color

    The cargo ship BBC Rhine came up the North River Sunday at midday, heading for the Port of Albany. The ship’s hull does not have the usual blue coat of paint we normally see on the BBC Chartering fleet, but the stern is more familiar looking blue. This ship also has a large structure built into the foredeck which looks like it might be designed to protect deck cargo from rough seas. When we see these BBC ships they are usually heading for Albany to deliver some heavy project cargo from overseas or to load equipment manufactured by GE in Schenectady for export overseas.

    On the way up, Rhine overtook the Army Corps of Engineers boat Hayward on two whistles and simultaneously passed the Gracie M Reinauer/RTC 109 ATB on one whistle, briefly creating a 3-lane marine highway off North Bergen NJ.

    ©2024 Daniel Katzive
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  • Adding salt

    The Carver Companies tug Helen passed up the North River Friday afternoon, headed for her home port of Coeymans with a high-sided hopper barge loaded with prodigious amounts of what I believe was probably salt lightered off the bulk ship Astro Sanistra, in from Egypt and anchored in the Upper Bay off Bay Ridge. Erin Elizabeth followed the next morning with more of the same, seen passing under the GW Bridge in the photo, and in the afternoon the 650-foot Marshall Islands flagged bulker herself came through, seen passing the old convent atop the Englewood Cliffs, also headed for Coeymans and presumably considerably “lighter” than she was when she arrived in New York Harbor a few days ago. As of Sunday morning, Astro is passing Hudson, NY after having anchored overnight off Hyde Park.

    ©2024 Daniel Katzive
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  • Teamwork at the terminal

    The Dann Marine Towing tug Gulf Coast was on hand at North River Pier 90 at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal on Friday to help Vane Brothers tug Red Hook deliver a fuel barge alongside the Viking Mars. We have seen the 2,400 HP Gulf Coast occasionally this year, usually moving fuel to one of the smaller products terminals on the East side of the Hudson River in Peekskill and New Hamburg.

    Red Hook has been seen more frequently on bunkering jobs at the cruise terminal of late—the final photo shows her a few days earlier, waiting at the unused Pier 92 while another cruise ship draws fuel. She is back there again Saturday morning with a barge for the Norwegian Aqua which arrived earlier.

    Red Hook on Friday
    Red Hook on Tuesday

    Viking Mars has been running trips to Montreal in September but, after leaving on a last visit there later today, will then head to winter cruising grounds in Fort Lauderdale.

    ©2024 Daniel Katzive
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