A South American towboat pilot named Gustavo Di Iroio has posted photos of towboats on that continent on his Flickr site. What makes it so cool for us Yanks (not Yankees; I can't stand the baseball team of that name) is that most or all of the boats he's posted photos of so far are former American boats that were sold south.
One of them is an old St. Louis Ship-built boat of design similar to the old Ohio River Co. boats I wrote about a few days ago.
Seeing his pictures is a delight.
It reminds me that in the late 1970s or early 1980s, Dravo built some Viking class towboats for delivery to China. That sticks out in my memory. I might be wrong, but I'm sure I'm not dreaming it. There was at least one article in the Waterways Journal, I think. If this is all wrong, someone please let me know.
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Capt Gustavo has sent me many towboat pictures from the Parana River in Argentina. I am collaborating with a few others including Capt Gustavo to compile a detailed list of USA built towboats that have gone to south of the border waters. We just about have it complete and when we do we will be glad to share.
Yes, Dravo did build some Viking class boat that were for China. The galleys were fitted with woks for Chinese cusine. The last pictures of them I saw they were quite beat up and had a hard life!
I might add that Capt Gustavo is Capt/pilot of the Dravo built Lillian Clark, last named Bob Blocker when shipped south. Capt Gustavo also trained at the towboat simulator at the Seaman's Church Institute in Paducah, Ky.
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