While fueling the large array of boats that are clients of American Petroleum & Transport, Captain Rich Naruszewicz also delivers harbor gossip and wisecracks. Read about him in Professional Mariner here. Listen to his oral history about his 1980s work on our tanker Mary A. Whalen here.

Rich was the captain of a fast ferry on 9/11.  He participated in the boatlift and evacuated thousands of people. He lost count at 5,000.

American Petroleum is in the business of delivering fuel within the harbor. They have two tugs, two barges and a new, small tanker, the CHANDRA B, which replaced the CAPTAIN’S LOG, after OPA 90 rules meant that the single hull CAPTAIN'S LOG had to be retired. 

The tugs and barges deliver heating oil to the Bayside Fuel terminals in the Gowanus Canal, Newtown Creek, and their Bay Shore Parkway facility. PortSide NewYork’s tanker MARY A. WHALEN used to do that same work for Bayside.

American Petroleum’s other work, done by the CHANDRA B, is central to the heart of the harbor: fueling many vessels that operate locally, a wide array of excursion boats and ferries that includes Circle Line, the Governors Island ferry, the New York Water Taxi, Classic Harbor Line's sail and power boats, and Hornblower’s fleet. 

Over a long and varied career, Rich has evolved from a tankerman on the MARY A. WHALEN in the 1980s to a captain delivering fuel to the MARY, with a lot of boats, adventures, and stories in between. A surprise 60th birthday party for Rich was thrown by his family and held on the MARY WHALEN. It meant a lot to him.  

Rich heads out on the CHANDRA B. before dawn from a berth at the southeast corner of the Beard Street Pier in Erie Basin. The photo below is from May 1, 2024.