Where old New England tug boats go to die: East Boston

By adamg on Mon, 12/06/2021 - 10:34pm

Roving UHub photographer Michael Campbell watched one old tug getting dismantled at an East Boston pier, while the another awaited its fate. Behind them, the HC Melina was outbound, heading to Houston, likely loaded with scrap metal.

Campbell couldn't make out the name of the ship being munched, the name already part of the day's meal:

The tug behind it, though, is the Fournier Girls, and based on its history, it's really a maritime cat on its ninth life: After hitting the water in 1966, it sank in Portland, ME in 1983, was raised, caught fire and was abandoned in ten-foot seas off Point Judith, RI in 1996, was salvaged and put back into service and spent the rest of its time quietly moving barges around Portland Harbor until it was consigned to the scrap heap this year.

Neighborhoods:

East Boston

Free tagging:

Boston Harbor

Ad:

Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Comments

Is this the same pier where

By Don't Panic on Tue, 12/07/2021 - 1:08am.

Is this the same pier where "Blown Away" was filmed? Jeff Bridges had one of the worst Boston accents ever uttered in movies.

The photo kind'a reminds me

By Rob on Tue, 12/07/2021 - 8:39am.

The photo kind'a reminds me of the classic 'evolution' drawing.

It deserves a nobler end.

By Bob Leponge on Tue, 12/07/2021 - 10:07am.

With the history you report, a tug like Fournier Girls has obviously acquired a soul over the course of its life, and it deserves a nobler end than being picked apart by a giant mechanical vulture on some rotting pier. I suppose the classic Viking funeral is environmentally unsound in the extreme, alas.

Sounds like it already had one

By anon on Wed, 12/08/2021 - 7:27am.

But it didn't stick. They're resorting to more drastic measures this time.