High Seas Adventures of Every Size and Description

The mixed boat traffic in our port, bay and channels cannot be better illustrated then by this shot of the huge ship M/T Bryggen, the tug Boat Freedom and the fun-loving crew of the small pleasure craft heading full speed out of the channel into Hillsborough Bay. Every commercial and cruise ship that wants entrance into our port must be guided by a tug such as the Freedom, snuggled up against the much larger container ship. Freedom is owned by Marine Towing of Tampa, which operates four tugs. (The company is principally owned by the Steinbrenner family that owns the New York Yankees.) Tampa’s port is Florida's largest by cargo volume with about 3,600 ships calling at Tampa last year, most of them cargo ships but an increasing number are cruise ships. The Freedom is a tough little tug capable of pushing, pulling and guiding some mighty big ships. It holds 29,000 gallons of fuel and has a tremendous capacity to get its job done right. They guide ships in from the Gulf of Mexico under the Skyway Bridge. The tug seems mighty powerful until you put it alongside the M/T Bryggen of Norway. Built in 2003, the company operates commercial tankers for other companies and charters. Their primary mission is stated as "Deep Sea Foreign Transport Of Freight, " and they are headquartered in Bergen, Norway. From the looks of the ship it can go up against any deep sea adventure it wishes to take on. It's about 520 foot in length (158,8 m) and is constructed of stainless steel and zinc (I love the things one can so easily find online with a few keystrokes.) I can't guess what it is bringing into Tampa's port and I don't want to guess what the young folk are taking out to sea along with their giant tubes and tons of sunscreen. It is a perfect day to be out boating and enjoying the water - and not working. The captain of the tiny pleasure craft must keep his eye on the larger ship traffic and stay clear of their wake. From the looks on the faces of the passengers they are definitely concentrating on Tampa's port tonnage and how to increase our commercial ship business...Oh, sure they are.

If you remember the wonderful Tampa Fire and Rescue fireboat that I featured in my May 27th post, go see it on the water and looking good at today's post at TampaBayDailyPhoto.