View allAll Photos Tagged tugging
My father worked on a PLA tug, the Dollar Bay, in the West India Docks for many years.
I see here that Dollar Bay is now the name of a new tower block of flats in Docklands. The name comes from a small part of the docks where drifting barges were impounded. The owners had to pay five shillings, colloquially a dollar, for its return.
Back in January, I was invited to ride on the Jeremiah O'Brien for its trip to dry dock for repairs, cleaning and repainting. The JO'B is one of the last surviving Liberty Ships from WWII, now converted to a museum, permanently docked in San Francisco.
We left at 5:30, before dawn, on a cold and rainy morning. The heaving ship and dark conditions forced me to work at maximum ISO to freeze the action with mostly sub-1-second shots, as tugboats shoved us around SF's waterfront, from Fisherman's Wharf to the BAE shipyards at Pier 70. It was a really fun and surreal experience, definitely out of my element.
Historic Ships Wharf, Lake Union, Seattle, Washington; built in 1889, this classic tug is now a museum ship. It is considered to be the oldest wooden tugboat afloat anywhere in the world.
60040 ‘Territorial Army Centenary’ passes Hullavington with 6B33, empty fuel tanks from Theale to Margam on 15 November, 2008. The loco was in a special livery promoting careers in the Army. It would later appear in DB Cargo bright red, but retaining its nameplates.
With some nice fall colors still hanging on, Great Lakes Towing's tug Mississippi is assisting at the stern of the Federal Danube headed up the Maumee River on an overcast morning in Toledo. She turned 100 years old this year, just 15 years younger than the historic St. Patricks church in the background.
A nice sight to go home on.
60054 tied up with 60039 to take 5Z32 Derby-Wetmore Sidings.
Presumably the dynamic duo retired to Toton afterwards, telling tales of Birmingham New Street, invisible docks and curious Scousers pointing at the 'funny train'.
Mersey Weaver aftermath at Derby, 30 January 2016.
Although built in Greenock by George Brown & Co at Garvel Shipyard, motor tug Garnock is an Irvinite through and through.
Built in 1956 for the Irvine Harbour Company, Garnock assisted in the towing of large vessels using the Garnock Wharf, a private wharf serving the ICI explosives works at Ardeer, and was a familiar sight to many in the very harbour where it now sits.
Replacing the paddle tug George Brown, which had served the harbour since 1887, Garnock was the last operational tug to work at Irvine. It cost £40k to build and has a part-welded, part-riveted steel structure, and still has the original 8-cylinder Lister Blackstone engine, which gave it enough power to cope with larger vessels. The hull and fittings are mainly original.
Another duty of Garnock was to dump faulty explosives at sea, and in February 1984, while doing so in the Firth of Clyde to the west of Ardrossan, an explosion ripped a hole in the stern. Assisted by Troon lifeboat, it was taken to Troon Harbour and was presented to the Scottish Maritime Museum later that same year.
Included on the National Register of Historic Vessels of the United Kingdom, Garnock is a fine example of a vessel designed specifically for service at Irvine, and for particular industrial concern. It is also thought to be the only tug preserved in Scotland.
Photo by Alan Kempster for SMM
Tug/cement Barge Samuel de Champlain/Innovation headed up the St. Clair River at St. Clair, MI (March 7, 2019)
Although built in Greenock by George Brown & Co at Garvel Shipyard, motor tug Garnock is an Irvine lass through and through.
Built in 1956 for the Irvine Harbour Company, Garnock assisted in the towing of large vessels using the Garnock Wharf, a private wharf serving the ICI explosives works at Ardeer, and was a familiar sight to many in the very harbour where she now sits.
Replacing the paddle tug George Brown, which had served the harbour since 1887, Garnock was the last operational tug to work at Irvine. She cost £40k to build and has a part-welded, part-riveted steel structure, and still has her original 8-cylinder Lister Blackstone engine, which gave her enough power to cope with larger vessels. Her hull and fittings are mainly original.
Another duty of Garnock was to dump faulty explosives at sea, and in February 1984, while doing so in the Firth of Clyde to the west of Ardrossan, an explosion ripped a hole in her stern. Assisted by Troon lifeboat, she was taken to Troon Harbour and was presented to the Scottish Maritime Museum later that same year.
Included on the National Register of Historic Vessels of the United Kingdom, Garnock is a fine example of a vessel designed specifically for service at Irvine, and for particular industrial concern. She is also thought to be the only tug preserved in Scotland.
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The Edna G. was built in 1896 by the Cleveland Ohio Ship Building company. She was one of the most powerful tugs of the time. She operated out of Two Harbors all her life, during WWI when the government requisitioned her to move barges and troop ships out on the east coast.
Prompt: Create a digital fine art painting of the historic steam tugboat Edna G navigating through heavy waves in the rough open ocean. The vessel, painted in its iconic vivid red and golden-yellow livery, pitches dramatically as it powers through towering swells, with foamy water crashing against its rounded bow. Its classic smokestack emits a thick plume of black smoke, trailing into the wind-blown sky.
The evening light casts a glow across the churning sea, highlighting the texture of the tug’s weathered hull and reflecting warm tones off the turbulent water. Low sun rays break through dramatic, fast-moving clouds on the horizon, creating stark contrasts of shadow and light on the ship’s deck, lifeboat davits, and wheelhouse.
Seagulls struggle against the wind in the background, and the entire composition conveys a sense of maritime strength, strength, and resilience as the Edna G battles the unforgiving elements of the ocean.
Style: Realistic digital fine art
Mood: Bold, dramatic, resilient
Lighting: Evening light with strong atmospheric contrast
Color Palette: Rich reds and golds, deep ocean blues, twilight sky greys and ambers
Aspect Ratio: Horizontal
Colas Rail 'Tug' 60 085 'Adept' trundles past the site of Dringhouses Yard, York, at the head of 6H70, the late running 12.19 (departed 12.15) Tyne Coal Terminal (South Shields)-Drax Power Station laden biomass hoppers. @15.21
Getting assistance in the berthing operation on the Thames. Tugs were
compulsory that day, berth regulation. Tugs can be a great help in a lot of
wind and tight situations, but here I could have berthed her easier without
tug assistance.
Murphy's law of tugs, you get 'em when you don't want 'em!
With canal deliveries of coal to Ferrybridge power station finished, the tugs wait out their future at Castleford.
On 10th April 2025 the Douglas registered 'Scot Bay' (2001, 3,177DWT) ran firmly aground at Teignmouth whilst attempting to berth with a cargo from Amsterdam. On the evening tide the Dartmouth based tug 'Christine' and the 'Teign C' were used to pull the ship free in front of a large crowd on a perfect Spring evening.
A rustle in the bushes enabled me to catch some movement out the corner of my eye. A Brown Rat was tryin to dispatch a Grass Snake for some supper. The snake was trying to bury itself into the thick grass but the rat kept tugging. At one point I thought the snake was going to get the upper hand when it coiled itself around the rat but after a brief struggle the snake stopped moving and the rat dragged off its bounty into the thick scrub.
I wonder whether the snake was 'playing dead' in the hope of some escape or it was truely dead, alas I will never know as I couldn't follow it through the thick bushes. I also wonder whether the snake attacked first perhaps biting off more than it could chew or they stumbled into one another by accident. Maybe the rat has mouths to feed and actively engaged the snake to secure a meal. With the amount of effort it put into the fight It could be the case.