Shipping News, No. 6: Update
New York Harbor Region
Sunday, January 16, 2000

See also: Shipping News; Shipping News: Update; Shipping News, No. 2; Shipping News, No. 2: Update; Shipping News, No. 3; Shipping News, No. 3: Update; Shipping News, No. 4; Shipping News, No. 4: Update; Shipping News, No. 5; Shipping News, No. 5: Update; Shipping News, No. 6.

Small bits of ice showed themselves upon the choppy gray waters of Newark Bay, a reminder to the longshoremen of Ports Elizabeth and Newark that the harpy of hard weather is sure to ultimately bare its claws on the waterfront.

In the distance beyond the ports, and dotting an 180-degree geographical arc from Rahway in the south around to Seacaucus in the north, the smokestacks of Jersey industry billowed high-rising plumes of steam-mixed byproduct, which plumes appeared to signal that business was proceeding at these various facilities.

Except for an unusual post-rollover tightness of anchorage space for both ships and fuel/oil barges, and the ebb-and-flow of cargo traffic, there appears to be no critical problem currently affecting the transoceanic shipping sector in the New York Harbor region.

Whether the rumblings of unscheduled refinery shut-downs hither and yon will be noticed among the fuel/oil barges of the Harbor remains to be seen. Motiva, Shell, Hess, BP Amoco, Texaco, Exxon-Mobil, Coastal, Chevron -- each with a local waterfront facility -- are an open book to be daily read in the movements of the tugboats.

Today's Quote from The Harbor:

"We need all the fuel reports by twenty-one hundred tonight."

-- Harbor Guy (HarborGuy@OnThe.Waterfront), January 16, 2000

Answers

Dear Harbor, while you offer prolific insights to your work space, and the wording is most entertaining, This is not the place to seek an sponsor to your delightful ramblings. Do you have news to report, or not?

-- Hard Line (NewsC@ster.com), January 16, 2000.

Harbor Guy,

I keep meaning to tell you how much I enjoy your reports. I can smell the salt and see the buoys winking and blinking. Although my homeport has moved well inland now, the sea will always be my home. The channel markers still guide me.

Thanks, pal, and keep them coming.

-- semper paratus (still_here_with@my.pals), January 16, 2000.

Then why aren't they deleted? Fuggedaboudit.

"This is Hard Line's brain." [show an egg]

"This is a monosyllabic mass media report." [show a hot skillet

"This is Hard Line's brain on a monosyllabic mass media report." [show egg frying in skillet]

-- Harbor Guy (HarborGuy@OnThe.Waterfront), January 16, 2000.

Winds at your back, Semper; many thanks.

-- Harbor Guy (HarborGuy@OnThe.Waterfront), January 16, 2000.

Harbor Guy:

Forgive me, do you personally see a pattern?

Does shipping seem to be up, down, sideways, or what, from previous comparable calander periods, ie January's of previous years.

I enjoy your posts, I'm just having trouble coming up with a useful synthesis.

-- mushroom (mushroom_at_bs_too_long@yahoo.com), January 16, 2000.

Mushroom: Ships are moving inbound and outbound; offloading and onloading; the containers are being brought to the docks, and moved off the docks. Thus, from my vantage, the shipping sector itself is not currently greatly affected by any internal Y2K-induced problems. I don't have specific data on containers for comparison; only my initial observations that cargo traffic was extremely light post- rollover, which appears to be changing.

-- Harbor Guy (HarborGuy@OnThe.Waterfront), January 16, 2000.

Harbor Guy, Thank you for the new report- in my view, both a pleasure to read AND informative. Please do keep them coming!

-- Swissrose (cellier@azstarnet.com), January 16, 2000.

I don't want to disturb any sensitive souls here with unexpected information, but, like it or not, reports like this of industrial operations returning to a more or less normal condition after a brief interruption definitely is newsworthy, given the past two years of speculation. Months will pass before anyone can begin to make a comprehensive assessment of our overall situation with respect to Y2K.

Meanwhile let's keep looking around. Insisting on bad news is just as misguided as insisting there is none.

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), January 16, 2000.

Ditto on Tom.

Keep the quotes coming!

-- Hokie (Hokie_@hotmail.com), January 16, 2000.

Swissrose: Thanks again, more as events unfold.

Tom: You caught the drift right away (so did I -- especially since the stinkpots on the horizon hadn't been puffin' like they should have been).

Hokie: Hoooooaaaaahhhhh.

-- Harbor Guy (HarborGuy@OnThe.Waterfront), January 17, 2000.

Harbor Guy--Keep your posts coming, even if there's isn't much going on, I still want to visualize the activities going on around the harbor. I can almost hear the gulls laughing at all the comings and goings in anticipation of snatching a morsel of food.

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), January 17, 2000.

Go Harbor Guy! You the man!

-- INever forgot parkchester or stuyvesant. (INevercheckmy@onebox.com), January 17, 2000.

Yes, Harbor Guy, *please* DO go on! I make it a point to read your posts every time I see one.

Thanks! Fundamental Law of the Universe 23b "Every organism, from the lowly ameba to the smartest human does that which it PERCEIVES to be in its own best interest." Desert (Yes, you may quote me.) Dave

-- Dave Craig (DesertDave@aol.com), January 17, 2000.

Harbour Guy (local spelling)- I keep a keen eye on your posts! Here in Bermuda EVERYTHING is dependant on basically two ports: Port Elisabeth N.J. and Fernandina Beach, Fla.....well, except Oil & Automobile shipments.You can tell me whatever you're seeing, anytime, and I'll be interested. Incidentally, we have just received our first business shipment from Fernadina Beach for the year- it's arrived at the docks and we've been notified it's here, at any rate. Was ordered Jan 6th, sailed Fernandina on the 13th, arrived Bermuda today, Jan 17th. Haven't heard of any difficulties with dock clearance. Thanks for your regular reports, us buoys and gulls really appreciate 'em.

on de rock

-- Walter (on de rock@northrock.bm), January 17, 2000.

Thanks to all again for the kind comments.

Walter: Ahoy! Please let us know if any delays from Elizabeth are experienced (though I imagine such won't occur).

-- Harbor Guy (HarborGuy@OnThe.Waterfront), January 17, 2000.