Tag: cruise ships
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Coastal flooding and plunging temperatures

High tide brought serious coastal flooding to New York Harbor Friday morning, with reports indicating neighborhoods on Jamaica Bay seeing their worst inundations since Sandy. Impact on the Hudson was much less dramatic, though high tide was still visibly above normal and some areas of Riverside Park South and Hudson River Park saw water where…
Daniel Katzive
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Sunday drivers
Sunny skies prevailed Sunday but the temperature held below 40. Three tugs and tanker barges had accumulated in the River overnight, though Patrice McCalister was on her way by 9am.
Daniel Katzive
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Seeing clearly again
Wednesday’s thick fog gave way to a clear Thursday, with light winds and temperatures in the high forties, though a busy schedule and limited daylight allowed for minimal observations. The massive MSC Seascape cruise ship was finally on her way to Miami after Wednesday night’s naming ceremony and press event celebrating the new year-round MSC…
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Looking for a ship

A blanket of thick fog sat over the river for almost the whole of Wednesday, with visibility ranging from poor to worse than poor. At sunrise it was practically pea soup, such that a bulk freighter coming down from Coeymans was nearly completely invisible at less than 500 yards off the end of pier i…
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Another soaker

Tuesday brought another day of soaking rains, with temperatures in the 40s and light winds, swinging around from northerly to southerly. The brand new MSC cruise ship Seascape remained at Pier 88 for a second day and will remain at least through Wednesday evening for a scheduled naming ceremony here. MSC is also celebrating commencement…
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Just visiting

The first full work week of December kicked off with clear skies, light winds and seasonable temperatures. The week brought two visitors to the passenger ship terminal area, with the Woods Hole-based 110’ Coast Guard cutter Tybee tieing up at the end of Pier 86 Monday morning for a one-day port call, and a brand…
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Winter is here…sort of

The first day of astronomical winter is December 21, but the first day of meteorological winter is December 1 and it is beginning to feel a lot like winter this week. The skies cleared Thursday, but temperatures dropped. Winds remained elevated for the morning after Wednesday’s gale, with a small craft advisory in effect, before…
Daniel Katzive
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First Freeze

Temperatures fell below freezing early Saturday, the first freeze in New York City this year, but clear skies allowed us to get back to 40 by the afternoon, and the River remains a source of warmth for the time being as well. The North River anchorages remain in demand, with Kimberly Poling remaining off 72nd…
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Ready to freeze
After a brief period of rain mid-week as the remnants of Tropical Storm Nicole lingered, New York shifted to classic clear and cold autumn weather, with morning temperatures in the 30’s and 15 knot winds out of the southwest. Tanker barges remain busy and seem to be favoring the River over the Bay during their…
Daniel Katzive
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Parade of Ships

The Coast Guard will be the “featured service” at Friday’s New York City Veterans Day. In recognition of this, USCG organized a small parade of ships, entering the Harbor this morning and proceeding up to the passenger ship terminal. The flagship was the Cape May-based 154’ fast response cutter Lawrence Lawson, which docked at the…
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Moderating

Monday verged on outright summer, but by Tuesday the northeast was easing back into autumn, and a tropical storm is predicted to arrive this weekend. Saint Emilion left its North River anchorage, headed for the Arthur Kill and was in the Upper Bay by evening. Kimberly Poling was at anchor Tuesday morning, and was joined…
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Too much of a good thing?

Conditions began to move into the “a little too good” category on Saturday, with temperatures creeping up into the 70s. Recreational boaters lucky enough not to have taken their boats out for the winter yet were enjoying things, and the commercial crews were probably also content not to be freezing.
Daniel Katzive
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Free parking

The glorious days continue, with early Friday fog lifting by midday and giving way to conditions that felt more like spring than autumn. The anchorages have been busy, with Patrice McCalister and a Poling-Cutler tug at rest Thursday with empty barges on the hip, and Saint Emilion and Evelyn Cutler in residence on Friday. Saint…
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Closing out a warm October

Halloween and All Saints Day have come and gone, and still temperatures continue to peak in the 60s. River traffic has been fairly typical, though we continue to watch for signs that the extreme levels of disruption in the northeast diesel markets is affecting tanker patterns. The cruise terminal continues to see departures of final…
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Back from the shop and atypical moves

Saint Emilion was anchored in the North River Saturday. Saint Emilion is a regular on the New York Harbor to Albany route, but has been absent for several months, a period coinciding with her being hauled out for maintenance at a Bayonne boat yard (as well-documented in August by the Tugster blog). Otherwise, Saturday was…
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Protecting navigation

Two Federal government boats with cranes were on the River Thursday, from different agencies but with similar missions. The Army Corps of Engineers Hayward patrols for obstructions to navigation on or near the surface, including large tree limbs and trunks. The Coast Guard’s Katherine Walker services buoys which mark the navigation channel for large ships…
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Burning off

The thick layer of haze that sat over New York from Sunday through Tuesday was finally burning off Wednesday afternoon. Temperatures were unseasonably warm, but with the sun setting before 6pm now for the rest of the winter, opportunities for photography are somewhat reduced. Tanker traffic remains heavy on the River, and the DonJon dredgers…
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Crisp and cool

Autumn colors and crisp conditions have continued into the weekend, though some rain is expected Sunday. Loaded tankers were heading north, probably mainly carrying heating oil, empty tankers, stone hoppers, and loaded cement barges came south, and leaf tours were also heading north.
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Friday catchup

Lovely fall weather was interrupted by a stormy Thursday, but conditions improved dramatically again at the end of the week. River traffic seemed light, and a couple of tugs anchored in the River Thursday after a period of empty anchorages. Cruise terminal activity was sporadic, and the dredgers appear to have moved on, with the…
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Lovely October
Splendid weather has persisted as we move deeper into October and leave the hurricanes that dominated the beginning of the month behind. Leaves are reportedly turning up north, but things still look pretty green down here. Limited time for observation, shorter days, and seemingly lighter commercial traffic means blog posts have become shorter and less…
