Kai Hansen, Tug Boat Captain, First Interview September 24, 2020

NOTE: The follow up interview can be seen by clicking HERE.

The first interviewee for Baltimore Shipspotting’s new interview series is former tug boat captain Kai Hansen. Watch the below video for some info about who he is and what he did around Fells Point, Baltimore, Maryland.

Below is an approximate transcription of what is said in the video:

Hi, my name is Kai Hansen and I’m a retired tug boat captain. I had my own tug boat here and working out at Fells Point for 15 years. I sold out in 2001 and went to work for a couple of other companies and ended up working for Vane Brothers. And then I retired in 2008. My tugboat life in Fells Point actually started in 1971 when I started working in tug boats because I came over here in… I was here in Baltimore first time in 1958, but I was a crew member on Danish ships and people would come in and then go to a lot of ports, go around the world and come back. I immigrated to Baltimore in 1966 and started working on the harbor on the Port Welcome because I couldn’t get into the union. 

And then in 1971, I got into the union and I started working on tugboats up and down the coast and up in the lakes and the Bahamas and the gulf. Finally, I ended up working on tugs that would come into Baltimore, and then in 2000… In 1986, I went in business for myself with a partner and we bought an old tug boat the Athena that was built in 1939. We worked that for 15 years.

If you have any questions, I’ll try to answer them. I have a pretty good memory of what Fells Point was like and what Baltimore was like and the waterfront and what happened. So feel free to ask me questions. I’ll try to answer them as best as I can.

If you have questions you would like him to answer you can put them below if you have a Disqus account, put them on my Twitter, or my Facebook page. If you prefer you can also click Contact at the top of this page and send me a message directly.

I would like to give a BIG shoutout to Bertha’s in Fells Point for hosting this initial interview. Thank you to all the great folks at Bertha’s!