The newest additions to New York Harbor’s working waterfront have slipped into service — the arrival of the Newt and the Thomas C. Moran marking another milestone for one of Irish America’s oldest maritime families.
The 7 November christening at Moran Towing Company's New York–New Jersey base of operations on Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, underscored the 2,000-plus-employee company’s determination to modernise its fleet while honoring a 170-year legacy rooted in immigration, grit and the changing face of the harbor. The Newt Moran christened by Sponsor Payton Marshall 
For the company, headquartered in Connecticut but synonymous with New York Harbor, the launch of the new vessels is also a reminder of how far it has travelled since its beginnings in 1850. That was the year a young Irish immigrant, Michael Moran, first found work on the Erie Canal, driving mule-pulled barges along a waterway that was then transforming American commerce.
By 1855, aged just 22, he had saved enough to buy his own canal boat. Winters brought him south to New York City, where he watched steam power overtake canvas.
Moran believed that steam towboats would be the future. In 1860 he bought a half share in his first vessel, soon expanding into brokerage and agency work as the harbour’s traffic boomed. From that foothold he built the foundations of what would become one of the most recognisable tug operators in the United States.
