See our Visitor Info page for full access details and directions.  On June 1, the new NYC Ferry service started, and the Red Hook stop is a few yards from the MARY A. WHALEN.

Mary A. Whalen future

The Mary A. Whalen was launched May 21, 1938, and we have some forward-looking plans for the old girl!

While we look for a site to create our intended maritime center with building space, the oil tanker MARY A. WHALEN has been the site our offices and many programs.  She is the only oil tanker cultural center in the world.  She is the last of her kind in the USA.  She is on the National Register of Historic Places, to understand why, see her history page.  

Restoration plans

We are working on plans to #makeMARYrunagain! Learn more about that and donate to support that effort here. We made lots of progress during the pandemic. In 2020, we acquired a vintage 1941 Fairbanks Morse engine we can use to restore our ship engine to working order. The next two years we got parts from historic ships that were being scrapped. We’ve been restoring the interior while using the ship for programs and our offices. In early 2014, the galley underwent a significant renovation.  Once we get our offices off the ship, we can deal better with those spaces.  

Adaptation to increase docking options

NYC is not a boat-friendly city, but we have a workaround plan so the MARY A. WHALEN can visit communities which lack a pier or have new piers without tie-up infrastructure.  To do programming in such places, we plan to use a solution called "spudding."  In maritime terms, a “spud” is a piling used to pin a vessel in place.  The NYC Ferry stops use “spud barges,” or barges pinned in place by spuds (effectively their own removable pilings.)  Those ferry stops move with the waves because they are barges not piers.

In 2007, we completed the first step of spudding the MARY A. WHALEN by installing spudwells (sleeves through the hull) through which we would insert the spuds.  Next we have to build spuds and the system to deploy them.

Although she is quite long, the MARY A. WHALEN is "shallow draft" (does not need deep water) and can therefore visit many areas in and near New York City. Her shallow draft plus spuds means that she will be able to go MANY places.

Repurposing the cargo tanks

Further in the future, the tanker's eight cargo tanks (2,800sq ft) which held the fuel products she carried will be converted for human use and house exhibit, classroom and function space. They have been cleaned of all fuel residues and are spacious rooms 15 1/2' high. They are shaded in grey in the drawing at the top of this page.

Restoring the engine

The MARY A. WHALEN  went out of service in 1994 because her crank shaft was scored at the aftmost cylinder.   Soon thereafter, Eklof sold the boat to Erie Basin Associates (Hughes Marine & Reinauer Transportation).  Because the fuel moving business is so competitive, Eklof cannibalized the engine, removing the heads, pistons and rods, so that Reinauer couldn't repair the MARY and put her back in service.

In late 2008, PortSide was tipped off by Bernie Ente that a younger Bushey tanker, the KED, was being scrapped in Seattle.  We had no immediate plans to restore the engine; however, everyone we consulted said that the parts are so rare that we should get the KED parts to ensure we had the option to restore our engine down the road. 

We seek additional following missing parts

The MARY A. WHALEN originally had 4 davits for lowering the lifeboats. The tanker currently has 1 davit. We got 2 from the KED, so we are missing only one. 

We are missing other things from the engine room, and bits of speaking tubes. Please get in touch if you have access to old parts like these.

Thanks to our sponsors and partners!

The exterior of the MARY A. WHALEN is being restored in large part with labor from the painters' union District Council 9 which is using the ship as a training site.  We give them a site, they give us labor, and we partner in training union labor.  The paint is thanks to a generous donation by International Paint.