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By Don Sutherland When was the last time 15 ocean ships docked almost all at once in New York, and undocked again, and sometimes redocked in-between, all in a week? In the near-400 years since the Dutch first arrived, there have been events even larg- er. But not many of them lately. Lately, large get-togethers of harbor craft in the most visible parts of the port - upper bay and lower North River - usually surround festive celebrations like the Tug Races and their accompanying games, great entertainment for young and old. But more stirring to watch than tugs at play are tugs at work. Barges go up and down the rivers regularly, but shipdocking, the lively part of tugboating, is concealed from the public eye off the remote corners of Staten Island and the containerports of Newark Bay. "Is there a harbor?" most cit- izens might ask, and "do its activities affect my life?" Then comes Fleet Week New York, a friendly invasion by several navies for which the public turns-out by the thousands, and the tugs start hopping. This past Memorial Day saw the biggest of the eighteen annual Fleet Week observations to date, the U.S. Navy tells us, and with the broadest international participation. Ever wonder what tugboats do, in the aggregate, in cross-section, on average? The Memorial Day observation gives the time-lapse movie, as dozens of movements are compressed into four major days and three minor. "Fleet Week berthing and ship move- ment is a complex ballet of ship desires and needs," the Navy's Chris Zendan told us from New London, Conn." Pier and logistical considerations, and time, tide, and current. All is choreographed between the Fleet Week Navy Commander and operations team, the Captain of the Port, ship husbanding agents and ships them- selves." The planning sessions began in January, according to Capt. Pat Kinnier, Port Captain for McAllister in the corner of Staten Island called Mariners Harbor. "It wasn't to be a shipdocking routine, where ships arrive in orderly succession," Capt. Kinnier recalls. "There would be a parade through the Narrows, across the upper bay, and up the North River to mid- Manhattan, all very majestic, and then everyone would dock just about at once." Said Portland Tugboat's Capt. Brian Fournier, who sent the classic tug Stam- ford, dressed in McAllister stripes, down to participate, "The navy ships have to be at such and such a place, and time. It's unique. I can think of only one other day more complicated, and that would have been Op Sail 2000." The big, dramatic opereations, like docking the carrier John F. Kennedy, would occur at mid-Manhat- tan, within easy view of the cameras. But there's only so much pier space at Man- hattan these days, and some of it is leased to cruise lines. Four or five ships, includ- ing the carrier (and the USCG Vigorous, which could stay only briefly), could be docked and husbanded on the Hudson, but for the rest there is just one pier, colloqui- ally the Navy Pier at Stapleton, on the Narrows shore of Staten Island. It's a good six or seven miles between the two points, most of it across the broad expanse of the upper bay. What if it got windy, and you were pushing some large, flat object like, oh, an ocean-going navy tanker? Terms of Agreement The job sounds like one that could take a lot of tugboats. McAllister holds the Navy contract for tug services in the New York Harbor upper and lower bay areras, and provided them for Fleet Week under that contract. McAllister has plenty of tugs at Mariners Harbor, and plenty more nearby — Philadelphia, for instance, plus points fur- ther north and south. But not every port has New York's requirements. "Every- thing working here has to be AIS- equipped," Capt. Kinnier reminds us, though it's not presently so everywhere the company works. Besides that, the ship-assist and docking exercises would pack a lot of tug power into short, spo- radic episodes. Rather than bring tugs other than the Stamford from Portland just to cool their heels in New York for hours or days, it made sense to rely on local talent as subcontractors. Kosnac's June K. and the Normandy both assisted in ship movements and husbanding ser- vices, along with a couple more tugs from Moran. 24 • MarineNews • July, 2005 WORKBOATS The Fleet Week Shipdocking Extravaganza Tug Stamford with weather. Sent down from Portland days in advance of the Fleet Week parade, chased by storms much of the way, the single-screw clas- sic was sighted on the East River on Sunday, May 22. (Photo: Don Sutherland) JULYMN2005 3(17-24).qxd 6/30/2005 12:15 PM Page 24
