News – Pacific Maritime Magazine

Alaska’s Wrangell Harbor Basin Awarded $25M For Floating Anchoring Systems

New floating and anchoring systems within the Wrangell Harbor Basin in Southeast Alaska will be funded through a $25 million grant from the federal Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) discretionary grant program. The grant, announced June 26 by U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, is one of 148 projects nationwide to make transportation infrastructure more resilient to extreme weather and improve supply chains to keep costs down for consumers. The project will fund planning, design and construction of floating and anchoring systems within the Wrangell Harbor Basin. The project will also construct water, electrical and fire suppression…

California Commits $27 Million to First-Ever Port Data System Development

The California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) has announced the award of $27 million to support data system development and interoperability across California’s five container ports. The state-level funding in the country, which was announced July 11, focuses on improving data functionality across California’s network of ports, which includes Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, San Diego and Hueneme. The agencies handle a staggering 40% of all U.S. containerized imports, supporting millions of jobs and generating billions in economic activity, data show. The awards will fund 10 projects across the five ports that address key challenges in port…

Saltchuk Adds Overseas Shipholding Group to Its Family of Companies

Seattle-based Saltchuk Resources has completed its previously announced tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Overseas Shipholding Group not already owned by Saltchuk for a purchase price of $8.50 per share in cash, an enterprise value of about $950 million. The transaction closed on July 10, making Florida-based OSG a wholly-owned subsidiary of Saltchuk. It joins Saltchuk as its seventh business unit, adding energy shipping to its diversified lines of business which include domestic shipping, international shipping, logistics, marine services, energy distribution, and air cargo. The transaction was first announced May 20. “With OSG,…

Ex Seattle Port Police Chief Awarded $24M Following ‘Wrongful’ Firing

After a six-week trial, the former head of the Port of Seattle’s police department has been awarded $24.2 million in damages as part of a legal case under which he sued the port for unlawful firing, according to a July 22 Seattle Times report. Ex-chief Rod Covey was removed from his post in September 2021, several months after being placed on administrative leave by the port. An internal investigation by the port found he had violated the port’s code of conduct and human resources policies after a port police officer filed racial discrimination complaints against Covey and other superior officers.…

Dedicated Cruise Ship Float Dock Opens in Skagway, Alaska

With thousands of visitors expected to head for the historic gold rush city of Skagway, Alaska during 2024, a new floating cruise ship dock debuted at the city’s port in late June. The 500-by-50-foot dock, located where ore shipments at the Port of Skagway were formerly loaded, accepted its first cruise ship of the season, the Konningsdam, on May 14, in advance of an official ribbon cutting ceremony on June 27, Municipality of Skagway Port Director Cody Jennings said. “This is a dedicated cruise ship dock,” Jennings said. “We expect to see 137 cruise ship calls, with an estimated 415,000…

Vigor Begins Production on U.S. Army Landing Craft

Shipbuilding and repair service provider Vigor Industrial has begun low-rate initial production on the Maneuver Support Vehicle (Light) vessel for the U.S. Army in Vancouver, Wash., the Portland, Ore.-based company announced June 4. The new generation military landing craft will replace the Vietnam-era Landing Craft Mechanized 8, Vigor said in its announcement. Vigor completed and launched the prototype vessel, the Elroy F. Wells, in 2022. This past June, work began work on the next phase of the new $1 billion job, which is expected to employ over 180 skilled workers in the project over the next five years. Vigor Vice…

Transport Secretary Buttigieg Attends Groundbreaking for POLB Rail Support Facility

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and officials from across the nation on July 18 attended a groundbreaking ceremony for the Port of Long Beach’s Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility, a $1.567 billion endeavor that the port has said will define its cargo movement future. About 500 people gathered for the groundbreaking event for the project, which is expected to double the footprint of the existing rail yard from 82 acres to 171 acres. It is being built in phases, each enhancing cargo movement, with construction scheduled for completion by 2032. In recognition of the facility’s importance to the…

Seaspan Unveils New Marine Firefighting Ship Simulator

Regional fire departments in British Columbia can now receive hands-on practice at shipboard firefighting at a new training facility designed to enhance the skills of local firefighters and develop area expertise in marine firefighting and emergency rescue events. The Seaspan Responder is a fire simulator constructed out of shipping containers to resemble a tugboat and is stationed at the Maplewood Fire and Rescue Centre, the headquarters for the District of North Vancouver Fire & Rescue Services (DNVFRS). DNVFRS is part of a regional fire and emergency services system, working alongside West Vancouver Fire & Rescue and the City of North…

Port of LA Completes $73M On-Dock Rail Expansion

The Port of Los Angeles on July 10 announced that it has completed construction of a major rail expansion project on Pier 400 that would improve cargo flow, reduce emissions and improve roadway safety at the port. Construction of the upgraded, expanded intermodal rail storage yard near the container terminal operated by APM Terminals began in 2021. The project added 31,000 linear feet of track with five new railroad storage tracks, a concrete rail bridge with lighting, an asphalt access roadway, new crossovers and turnouts, and modifications to the compressed air system, according to the port. Work also included the…

Newsmakers

PMSA’s Grubbs Elected to Containerization & Intermodal Institute Board Pacific Merchant Shipping Association Vice President Michele Grubbs has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Containerization & Intermodal Institute (CII), a not-for-profit organization committed to supporting and promoting the business of international trade and the intermodal transportation community. CII announced her election July 24. Grubbs has been with PMSA since 2004, overseeing its Long Beach office. PMSA, an independent nonprofit association, represents ocean carriers, marine terminal operators, and the maritime industry on the U.S. West Coast. It advocates for owners and operators of marine terminals and vessels, actively…