- By Amie Pascoe, Director, BLUE Communications

The way that we communicate is fundamentally changing. As a society, our appetite for information and our expectations of being able to connect instantly with friends, colleagues and even strangers online around the world is constantly evolving. Each new device and platform that we are introduced to develops our desire to engage, which has clear implications for the brands that we encounter.

The proliferation of this information affects all global industries. But for shipping, a sector with an inherently traditional approach to life, our increasingly digitally integrated world and online communities are often seen as more of a threat than an opportunity. However, as a channel, digital and social network sites in particular offer an unparalleled way to connect with your stakeholders, whether they are the end-consumer, seafarers, customers, employees or industry influencers.

Shipping is not just about ships – emphasis is increasingly, and rightly, shifting to the human element of the industry. As social media is in essence what people use to communicate, shipping must develop its presence online accordingly. This element is particularly pertinent when dealing with seafarers – engaging with them as employees and stakeholders and creating information that is shareable across the platforms that they use. As employees play such a critical role in managing brand, this is fundamental to safeguarding not only reputation, but also to the continuing professionalisation of the industry.

Ensuring internet access across shipping fleets is critical to recruiting the next generation of seafarers, for whom social media and text communication are part of everyday life. A subject recently debated at CMA Shipping 2012, the unanimous conclusion was that it is unrealistic to expect young seafarers to go to sea for months with no contact with the outside world. Moreover, offering young seafarers’ access to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as allowing them to catch up on sport and news, is not only an increasingly important welfare consideration, but can in turn also increase motivation and productivity.

Whilst it is still early days for shipping to comfortably adopt the digital channel, there are companies that are taking steps to integrate social media at the heart of their business to harness employee productivity for commercial benefit. Teekay, for example, has developed an internal network for its 7,000 workers to communicate with each other in open and closed forums, watch videos from senior management and flag stories that they ‘like’.

However, using social and digital media channels simply because they are now so omnipresent in our daily lives does not mean that they are necessarily the right medium for communicating with customers, or other key stakeholders. Moreover, the threat and negative impact on reputation when it goes wrong can significantly impact brand and therefore enterprise value. Issues inevitably arise in corporate life, but must be dealt with online appropriately in a way that protects and manages reputation. Post Costa Concordia, for example, Carnival’s CEO, a frequent Twitter user who “tweeted” up to 30 times a day, refrained from using the medium to communicate immediately after the disaster when, arguably, consistency of use and messaging would have better allayed the concerns of consumers, shareholders and other stakeholders.

Ultimately, effective communications is a two way process that centres around the development of relationships. It requires us to ‘listen’ as well as ‘talk’, and demands the dissemination of consistent and timely messages. For many companies, when approached strategically and aligned with communications objectives, social and digital media can prove to be an invaluable addition to the communications toolkit.

So if social networks are founded upon conversation, then why are so many marine companies still not encouraging online dialogue directly with their stakeholders? Resource is the first challenge – ensuring the swift responses needed requires trained people to monitor, listen and act appropriately. Another challenge is that the bigger the company, the less connected to the values espoused by the organisation its employees can be and the more diluted the message, which poses a risk to reputation. To combat this, you need to identify and embrace your business values, enshrine them in your corporate messaging and then make absolutely sure that everyone in the workforce understands them so that they are brought to life in day-to-day activity. This is what facilitates alignment across all communications channels and – critically – in all interactions with the organisation. The transparency that social media provides through unlimited access to information should motivate us all to create and work in ethically robust organisations that deliver great products and services that stand up to scrutiny.

Although the channels through which we communicate are evolving, the underlying approach to communications remains the same; ensuring that business strategy is distilled down through communications messages. From there strategic questions can be asked: how can communications work to support this and build (or repair) reputation in line with the values, positioning and tonality of the brand? Who are the most important stakeholders that need to be communicated with? What do we want to say to them, what are the messages? And finally what is the best way of reaching them and engaging?

Fundamentally, you have to understand what your messages are and to whom they are directed. Content comes first and the channel second. You don’t have to cover all platforms – the first step is to establish where the conversations in your sector and around your brand are largely taking place and make sure that you are there. The conversation has already begun, and the shipping industry must engage and prepare to join in if it is to protect and manage its reputation in the digital age.

Amie Pascoe, Director, BLUE Communications joined panelists James Tweed, managing director, Coracle, Karine Langlois, new media officer, IMO, Nick Brown, marine communications manager and Neil Wiese, Fairplay, to debate shipping and social and digital media. Follow #bluedebate and @BLUECOMMS on Twitter.

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel

• Crosses: Chesapeake Bay
• Length: Two one mile long (1.6 km) tunnels. Length Toll Plaza to Toll Plaza: 20 miles
• Connects: Eastern Shore of Virginia with Hampton Roads, Virginia.
• Opened: April, 1964.
• Cost: $200 million North Bound ,$250 million South Bound.

The Drogden Tunnel

• Crosses: the Oresund strait.
• Length: 4,050 m (13,287 ft)
• Connects: The Danish capital of Copenhagen and the Swedish city of Malmö.
• Opened: Summer 2000.
• Cost: DKK 30.1 billion entire Øresund connection construction

The Channel Tunnel (The Chunnel)

• Crosses: the English Channel at the Strait of Dover.
• Length: 50.5-kilometre (31.4 mi)
• Connects: Dover in the United Kingdom with Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais near Calais in northern France.
• Opened: May 6, 1994.
• Cost: $15 billion to build.

The Seikan Tunnel

• Crosses: the Tsugaru Strait.
• Length: 23.3-kilometre (14.5 mi)
• Connects: the Japanese island of Honshū and the island of Hokkaidō.
• Opened: March 13, 1988.
• Cost: ¥538.4 billion (US$3.6 billion)

The Lincoln Tunnel

• Crosses: the Hudson River.
• Length: 1.5-miles long (2.4 km)
• Connects: Weehawken, New Jersey and the borough of Manhattan in New York City.
• Opened: December 22, 1937.
• Cost: $85,000,000

Drogden Tunnel – Photos & Info

Drogden Tunnel.

Moving the tunnel into place

Drogden Tunnel layout.

The Seikan Tunnel – Photos & Info

The Seikan Tunnel Graph.

Entrance to the Seikan Tunnel.

Map of the Seikan Tunnel.

View from inside the Seikan Tunnel.

Building the Seikan Tunnel.

Channel Tunnel (Chunnel) – Photos & Info

View of the Strait of Dover.

Geological profile of the Chunnel.

Chunnel Outline

Lincoln Tunnel - Photos

Hudson River.

View from inside the Lincoln tunnel in New York

The Building of the Lincoln tunnel

Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel – Photos & Info

Ship passing over the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel

Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel Graph

Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel Aerial Photo

Proposed Bridge-Tunnels

• Bering Strait crossing
• Strait of Sicily Tunnel
• Saudi-Egypt Causeway
• Bridge of the Horns
• Sakhalin Tunnel
• Sakhalin-Hokkaido Tunnel
• Gibraltar Bridge
• Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge

Brooklyn Bridge: 1883 – Brooklyn, New York

1. Spans the East River.
2. First steel-wire suspension bridge.
3. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964.
4. Initially, Brooklyn Bridge was known as ‘New York and Brooklyn Bridge’. It was given its present name by the city government, in 1915.
5. With a main span of 1,595.5 feet (486.3 m), it was the longest suspension bridge in the world until 1903.

• www.nyc.gov

Tower Bridge: 1894 – London, England

1. Spans the River Thames.
2. Tower Bridge is sometimes mistakenly referred to as London Bridge which is the next bridge upstream.
3. Tower Bridge remains open on a daily basis. 10:00 to 18:30 – 1st April to 30th September, and 09:30 to 18:00 – 1st October to 31st March.
4. In 1974, the original operating mechanism was largely replaced by a new electro-hydraulic drive system.
5. In May 1997, the ‘unexpected’ opening of Tower Bridge divided the motorcade of US President Bill Clinton.

• towerbridge.org.uk

CONTINUE READING for 5 Amazing Photos of all 5 Amazing Bridges.

Golden Gate Bridge: 1937 – San Francisco, California

1. The Golden Gate Bridge has been closed three times for weather.
2. The color of the bridge is officially called international orange.
3. With a length of 1.7 mi it was the longest suspension bridge span in the world when it was completed.
4. The steel used to build the bridge was made in New Jersey, Maryland and Pennsylvania and shipped through the Panama Canal.
5. The bridge has approximately 1,200,000 total rivets.

• goldengate.org

Charles Bridge: 15th Century – Prague, Czech Republic

1. Spans the Vltava River and is the second oldest bridge in Czech Republic.
2. Eggs were used to enrich the mortar to make it bind to the stone blocks better.
3. The foundation stone was laid in 1357 on the 9th day of the 7th month at 5:31 AM. Charles IV chose this time so that the date and time were a sequence of odd numbers, 1-3-5-7-9-7-5-3-1.
4. Capital repairs of the bridge took place between 1965 and 1978.
5. During the end of the Thirty Years’ War in 1648, the Swedes occupied the west bank of the Vltava, and as they tried to advance into the Old Town a battle erupted with the heaviest fighting taking place right on the bridge.

• charlesbridgemuseum.com

“Wind and Rain” Bridge: about 100 years old – Chengyang, China

1. Spans the Linxi River near the Dong village of Maan.
2. The Bridge was built without a single nail.
3. The bridge is a Unesco World Heritage site.
4. These bridges provided local residents with places to meet, relax, socialize and exchange views.
5. The “Wind and Rain” Bridge is protected as a valued cultural relic of Dong people of China.

Brooklyn Bridge Photos – New York

Photo of the Brooklyn Bridge at sunset.

Looking at Brooklyn and the bridge.

THEN – Historic Brooklyn Bridge Photo

NOW – Modern Brooklyn Bridge Photo

Old Historic Poster from the building of the Brooklyn Bridge

Tower Bridge Photos – London

Tower Bridge At Night (Photo from boston.com/bigpicture )

Ship passing under Tower Bridge.

Photo of the building of Tower Bridge – 1892.

Tower Bridge at Sunset

Tower Bridge – Miniland, Legoland.

Golden Gate Bridge Photos – San Francisco

The long reach of the Golden Gate Bridge.

The Golden Gate Bridge coming out of the Fog.

Historic Photo of the Golden Gate Bridge.

View from the Golden Gate Bridge.

A closer view for the Golden Gate.

Charles Bridge Photos – Prague

Boats on the Vltava River in Prague.

The magic of Charles Bridge and Prague.

Sunrise over Charles Bridge, Prague Czech Republic.

Charles Bridge Covered in Snow.

Charles Bridge At Nigh.

Painting Bonus: Fighting on Charles Bridge in 1648 during the Thirty Years’ War.

“Wind and Rain” Bridge Photos – China

Wind and Rain Bridge in China.

“Wind and Rain” Chengyang, China

A look inside the “wind and Rain” Bridge.

No nails were used in building the “Wind and Rain” Bridge.

Walking up to the “Wind and Rain” Birdge.

This weeks ship er, barge photo comes via flickr user joseph a, who has this to say about it:

On July 13th, the new Willis Avenue Bridge was transported down the Hudson River to New York City from the Port of Coeymans near Albany. Major media outlets covered the event, with the New York Times reporting right from the Walkway Over The Hudson, and many found it hard to believe that this new piece of American infrastructure came from a port in New York rather than via the Panama Canal. Three tugs, Elizabeth, Ruby M., and Margot, assisted with the operation and were escorted by Coast Guard Cutter Ridley.

The prefabricated steel bridge measures about 350 feet long, 65 feet high and 77 feet wide and is destined for the Harlem River where it will replace the nearly 110 year old current Willis Avenue Bridge connecting upper Manhattan with the Bronx.

More photos can be found HERE.

Also check out The New York Times article Heads Turn as a Bridge Floats By

The Magdeburg Canal Bridge

This could be the worlds strangest bridge but here at gCaptain we think it is pretty cool. Germany’s water bridge known as the Magdeburge Canal Bridge took six years to build (completed in October of 2003) at a cost of 500 million Euros. The Magdeburg Water Bridge is 918 meters long. It bridges over the Elbe River in Germany and joins the Elbe-Havel canal to the Mittelland canal which is close to the city of Magdeburg, near Berlin. The water bridge joined the former East and West Germany, as part of the unification project.

You can find out more about the German water bridge at dw-world.de

History is littered with bridges designed to do the impossible. One example, Euroroute (pictured above), would literally take drivers through the White Cliffs of Dover to an island five miles into the English Channel where a tunnel would bring drivers the twenty remaining miles to France. This bridge designs was never built of course but the dream existed.

Today bridges are being designed that would cast shadows over Euroroute’s proposed span. Here’s what is being planned.

The Bridge Designs

Fehmarn Belt Bridge

Fehmarn Belt Bridge: Germany and Denmark have agreed upon building a 19km long bridge in between the two countries in the Fehmarn Belt region, and in that way shorten the trip between Scandinavia and central Europe. The construction of the bridge will be financed mostly by Denmark, with 4.8 billion euros, and Germany with 800 million Euros. The bridge will have two levels, one for road traffic, and one for rail. The start of construction is expected in 2011, and its opening in 2018. (Source: Javno)

Bering Strait Bridge

Bering Strait Bridge: The 55 mile long bridge across the Bering Strait would connect Asia and North America for the first time since the continents touched each other. At an estimated cost of 15 to 25 billion dollars this proposal is not only expensive but fraught with challenge. Ice breakup after each winter is violent and would destroy normal bridge piers. Specially shaped massive piers along the ocean floor would be needed to keep the bridge stable. (video – Map)

Hong Kong – Zhuhai – Macao Bridge

Hong Kong – Zhuhai – Macao Bridge: Being situated at the waters of Lingdingyang of Pearl River Estuary, is a large sea crossing linking the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), Zhuhai City of Guangdong Province and Macao Special Administrative Region. The functions of the bridge is to meet the demand of passenger and freight land transport among Hong Kong, the Mainland and Macao, to establish a new land transport link between the east and west coasts of the Pearl River, and to enhance the economic and sustainable development in the three places. (Source: Hong Kong Highways Dept.)

Strait of Gibraltar Bridge

Strait of Gibraltar Bridge: One of the great challenges to the bridge and structural engineering profession is the design and construction of a fixed bridge spanning the Strait of Gibraltar. Several engineers have advanced designs for the Gibraltar Bridge on various alignments and with differing structural configurations but it was Professor T.Y. Lin’s proposal that captured the attention of the world. This design is different. With its 14km length, deep piers, and unprecedented 5000 meter spans Lin’s proposed crossing is innovative but, considering an estimated cost of over 15 Billion dollars and the lack of approval for this nearly 10 year old design, we doubt it will ever be built.

Straight Of Gibraltar Island Bridge

Straight Of Gibraltar Island Bridge: Eugene Tsui, a US architect has an alternative idea for the Straight Of Gibraltar, in fact it could become the longest bridge in the world spanning the Strait of Gibraltar and connecting the continents of Europe and Africa. This revolutionary design does not resemble any existing bridge and features an original floating and submerging concept while creating a three mile wide floating island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. From this newly created island a person could view both the European and African continents for the first time in human history. If construction ever begins it will be the biggest architectural project in the world. (Source: tdrinc

The following bridge proposals are in so new that we could not locate any design drawings but you don’t need the drawings to grasp their awesome size:

Sunda Strait Bridge

The Sunda Strait Bridge is a planned road and railway connection between the two Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java. After years of discussion and planning, eventually in October 2007 the Indonesian government gave the initial go-ahead for what will become the world’s longest suspension bridge, across the 26km (16mi) Sunda Strait. The $10bn project is for a series of bridges carrying a six lane highway and double track railway traversing three islands. The project’s greatest challenge is the fact that the strait lies in one of the world’s most dangerous earthquake zones. Sumatra is frequently rocked by significant tremors and more than 230,000 people were killed when a 9.0-magnitude quake in December 2004 triggered a tsunami. Many active volcanoes lies in the area, including Krakatoa only 40km away. (Source: Wikipedia – Map)

Qatar Bahrain Friendship Bridge

Look at a map of the world, and Qatar and Bahrain are so close that you would assume there was a ferry crossing between the two gulf countries. In fact, there is no way to enter the country except for a round trip through Saudi. The Bahrain-Qatar bridge, at 40 kilometres long, will be the longest bridge in the world, and it is estimated that it will take over four years to complete. Due to its length, the causeway will not consist of a single bridge but of a number of roads on dams connected by individual bridges, with a central island in the middle of the causeway. The has been planned for many years, but talks and plans have been moving ahead in recent months and work is now planned to start in May 2008. (Source: Qatar Visitor | Feasibility Study)

Millau Bridge

While these bridges are challenging, expensive and some are unlikely to be constructed the most impressive of the bunch is already built! Meet France’s Millau Bridge:

Millau Bridge: Towering 1,125ft above the Tarn Valley in southern France, driving along the Millau Bridge, the largest cable-stayed vehicular bridge in the world, is said to feel like flying. This Foster + Partners marvel is slightly taller than the Eiffel Tower, took three years to build and opened to the public in 2004. While it may provide picturesque views of the valley below, once the mist descends it is not a route for the faint hearted! The Millau Bridge has a total length of 8,071ft with the longest single span at 1,122ft and a maximum clearance below of 886ft; in short the bridge is massively impressive both on paper and in real life. The deck is lofted on 7 pylons and weighs 36,000 tonnes. A series of 7 masts, each 292ft tall and weighing 700 tonnes, are attached to the corresponding pylons. (Source: Frikoo | Construction Photos)

The sun is rising somewhere off the starboard bow, lending the East River the reflective properties of burnished steel…

Those of us unaccustomed to morning sea-glare stumble across the wheelhouse clutching handrails and trying to stay out of the way of the captain, crew, and especially the docking pilot. Jeff McAllister, you see, is presently occupied with keeping this 17,000-ton, 565ft former cargo freighter from careening into the Williamsburg Bridge.

After 20 years of docking ships in New York Harbor, ­McAllister is impervious to the elements. He claims you couldn’t ask for a finer day to work. Blinding sun, iridescent blue sky, enough wind to unzip your skull. What’s not to love? Pacing the wheelhouse, he seems equally impervious to the looming bridge.

Five minutes ago, with the help of three powerful tugboats, McAllister hauled the freighter – called the Empire State – out of a maintenance dock in the Brooklyn Navy Yard and swung her north for a three-hour trip to Fort Schuyler in the Bronx.

The job is a “dead tow”, meaning the ship’s 17,250hp engine is idle and her rudder locked. Ten storeys below us, unseen off the bow, the tugboat Marjorie B is fastened to the Empire State by hawser line, pulling us along, while another tug, the Ellen J, is tied to our stern for directional control. A third tug, the Charles D, follows behind…

keep reading »

With the construction of bigger and bigger ships these days, a number of ports throughout the world are being forced to re-evaluate infrastructure to accommodate these ships of greater size.  However, sometimes it’s not the size of the ports facilities at all, but rather obstacles en route that are having a severe impact on a given ports growth.

One such obstacle that seems to be getting a lot of attention in the news lately is bridges, or more specifically, bridge height.  Here are just a few examples of some tight squeezes that, for most, are a little to close for comfort.  Be sure to share some of your least favorite bridges to be under in the comments.

Shown above, an APL container ship squeezes under the Bayonne Bridge which crosses the Kill Van Kull channel to container terminals in the Port Newark-Elizabeth complex in New Jersey and New York Container Terminal on Staten Island.  The Port Authority has identified the bridge as the number one issue effecting the port.  The Bayonne Bridge stands just 151 ft. above the water.

Below the container ship MSC Texas has just feet to spare as it crosses under the Gerald Desmond Bridge in Long Beach’s Back Channel.  Three tugboats are required to control the vessel while navigating through the channel, as well as three pilots on board monitoring the ship’s position.  The Gerald Desmond Bridge is approximately 155-feet above the water. (Photo via Los Angeles Times)

Below, four new super post-Panamax cranes are shown en route to the Port of Savannah aboard the Dockwise M/V Tern.  The U.S. Coast Guard reported just an 8′ gap while traveling under the Talmadge Bridge.

Top photo:  Royal Carribean’s Oasis of the Sea’s squeezes under the Great Belt Fixed Link Bridge in Denmark.  The 5,500 passenger cruise ship was forced to lower its smoke stacks in order to fit under. (Photo via AP)

Ares pulled into the Duluth harbor on Oct. 27, a successful finish to a journey that included filling the boat with 60,000 gallons of water to get it under a bridge in Illinois, a misunderstanding at a slip in South Chicago, unpredictable weather conditions and four days in Michigan with bad lake conditions. Ares has had a name change to Nels J. and will be put to work in the spring.

by Christa Lawler, Duluth News Tribune
reprinted in its entirety with permission

It was the stuff adventure stories are made of: a touch of Huckleberry Finn meets the Great Lakes, “Gilligan’s Island” and some Popeye thrown in for good measure.

In late October, a local crew was part of a 16-day mission to bring a retired tugboat named Ares from a scrap yard in Texas to Lemont, Ill., to Duluth. The journey included grubby toilets, ingenuity, a little luck, high seas and an encounter that nearly ended in fisticuffs. Now, the tug — which has been renamed Nels J. and will begin its career as an icebreaker in the spring — can be seen to the east when you cruise over the Blatnik Bridge into Superior.

Mike Ojard, the boat’s owner, and Paul von Goertz, who was part of the crew (his official title is vermin exterminator/gopher/historian) will tell their story, “Racing the Witch of November II,” next week in Knife River.

“When you’re at this age, what it is is an adventure. It’s kind of like the ‘Bucket List,’ ” said Ojard, who owns Heritage Marine, a tugboat company that works western Lake Superior.

Ojard had been looking for a second tugboat when he heard about Ares, which had seen both Hurricane Ike and Katrina. It is a 103-foot, 1,950-horsepower boat with a 16-cylinder diesel engine that once supplied oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. It had no anchor, so they rudely crafted one from metal held together with cables. The living conditions inside the boat included a kitchen, bunk space and two toilets — a setup closer to camping than a luxury cruise ship. Not to mention the cockroaches.

The boat was taken to New Orleans, where it became part of a barge tow, and was dropped off in Lemont, Ill., about 30 miles south of Chicago. A revolving crew of four to nine local men — most of them in their early 60s — boarded the boat to bring it home. They were a collection of Ojard’s friends and family from Knife River, with skills ranging from electronics to navigation to engine specialists.

Sinking the Boat (on purpose), and Fisticuffs

The crew’s first obstacle was getting the boat to clear a railroad bridge near where they were docked in Lemont. They filled the ballast tanks, and when they were still about 4 feet too high, they vacuumed out the fuel tanks and filled those with water, too. Eventually the boat was filled with 60,000 gallons of water and, with the assistance of a push tug, they were able to pass under the bridge — with 6 inches to spare.

“It looked like a swamped canoe,” von Goertz said. “If you couldn’t get it under the bridge, you’d have to settle for being in the tugboat business in Lemont.”

From there, they traveled about six blocks and pulled into a slip on South Chicago. The boat needed to be emptied of water and refueled (this was done in an environmentally safe way, von Goertz said), cleaned up and cleaned out, and a mast was attached to the top of the pilot house.

Unfortunately, they had pulled into the wrong side of the slip, attracting a Spanish-speaking security guard who gave the men some guff. He kept asking what the crew was doing, von Goertz said, and finally threatened to call the police, giving them an hour to leave.

“This guy starts hollering and screaming and jumping up and down and threatening us with bodily harm,” Ojard said. “We had no idea where we were supposed to be. The push boat pushed us into the wrong spot.”

The crew used a small boat to row the ship’s mooring lines to the other side of the slip, and they used a pickup truck to tow the boat to the other side. At the slip, the crew made friends with another group that fortuitously had a crane and a crane operator, and so they were able to weld the 800-pound steel mast onto the boat. They got the engine running, took it for a test run on the Calumet River, made a few adjustments. After four days, the Ares crew set out on Lake Michigan.

“Seeing [South Chicago] in your rear-view mirrors is one of the most welcome sights you’ll see,” Ojard said.

High Seas

There was an overnight stop in Milwaukee, and then they were off again. A tail wind shifted to a head wind, and waves sprayed the front windshield. The windshield wipers, by the way, were broken. And instead of a steering wheel, the boat was manipulated with a joystick.

They chugged along at a top speed of 13 mph, under the Mackinac Bridge, on Lake Huron for 40 miles, and a left on the St. Mary’s River. Weather forecasts stalled the trip in Michigan for a few days. Ares pulled in behind the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center on Oct. 28, and the crew members met with friends and family.

Ojard’s other tug, named Edward H. after his father, who was also in this business, managed the early season work through this past week. Nels J. will be added to the fleet in the spring.

There are no plans to make another similar journey. In fact, von Goertz said the story of picking up Edward H. is more harrowing than this one. That tug couldn’t even go in reverse.

“I don’t know if we will want to do this again for a while,” von Goertz said.

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/

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Frequently passing under bridges for a living and over them in the family sedan we, like most mariners, have a fascination with bridge design and basically all things we can drive our ships over, under or through.  Here’s a video on building the World’s Largest Suspension Bridge…. in an earthquake zone.