Moran Towing maintains at least three and often four tugs in Portsmouth to assist with river traffic that brings several million tons of cargo a year – coal, natural gas, road salt, and products for a Foreign Trade Zone – up the the Piscataqua River and through Portsmouth Harbor.

It can be a challenging job. While deep and ice-free, the Piscataqua is also the third-fastest tidal river in North America and extremely narrow by shipping standards.

As a result, the tugs operate only at “slack tide,” periods of about an hour twice a day when the incoming tide temporarily balances the outgoing current of the river.

Old Doors of Portsmouth, NH H.M.S. Harlow (1882- 1963)

After retiring to Portsmouth, artist Harry S. Harlow painted every major colonial doorway ... During World War I he moved to Portsmouth and served in the NH State Guard. 

The colossal, mountainous piles of salt sitting ominously on the outskirts of downtown Portsmouth have had quite the journey.

From being mined in salt flats or salt mines more than 4,000 miles away in exotic places like Peru and Chile, to traveling 35,000 tons at a time through the Panama Canal and up the Atlantic, the salt resting at the port on Market Street is just a local slice of a multi-billion dollar, international process with the objective of making your winter commute as safe and convenient as possible.