May 2022 – Pacific Maritime Magazine

New Floating Fireboat Station Opens in San Francisco

On March 10, San Francisco civil and harbor officials opened the long-awaiting floating Fireboat Station No. 35 at Pier 22½, north of the Bay Bridge. The new two-story, 14,900-square-foot station will house the city’s fireboat and marine rescue watercraft fleet and a rotating crew of 21 fire personnel. The $50.5 million project was a design-build effort involving Power Engineering Construction Co., Swinerton, Shah Kawasaki Architects and Liftech Consultants. It sits on a 173-foot-long-by-96-foot-wide steel float that’s anchored by four guide piles. “Part of being able to respond quickly and efficiently to emergencies is investing in state-of-the-art equipment to support our…

Port of Benicia Devastated by Four Alarm Fire

The Port of Benicia, a small, privately operated port in the San Francisco Bay area, was devastated by a four-alarm fire in April. The port, which is operated by Amports, a Maryland-based auto processing company, saw the blaze erupt in the early afternoon of Saturday, April 9, according to the City of Benicia, in the 1000 block of Bayshore Boulevard, next to the Amports port terminal. Benicia Fire Chief Josh Chadwick said that when fire crews arrived, the blaze was burning upward from a conveyer belt toward a docked tanker ship. “While responding, we received updates that the fire (was)…

San Pedro Bay Ports Begin Collecting Clean Truck Fee

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach on April 1 began collecting a $10 per TEU rate on loaded import and export containers moved by drayage trucks coming and going from terminals. The ports are working toward reaching zero-emissions for drayage trucks by 2035 and revenue from the fee goes toward the Clean Truck Fund, which was established to help pay for the transition to cleaner trucks and create the funds needed to speed up zero-emissions technology development. About $90 million could be generated in the first year toward that effort, according to the ports. The ports have hired…

Anchorage Mayor Proposes Renaming Port After Late Congressman

Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson announced on March 21 that he wants to rechristen the Port of Alaska to honor the late Congressman Don Young (R-AK), who died three days earlier. A news release from the mayor’s office stated that Bronson plans to seek approval from the state Assembly to convene a citizen panel and start the process to rename the port the “Don Young Port of Alaska.” The mayor called Young a champion for the state and a big supporter of the port. As chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Young was instrumental in bringing federal dollars to…

Port of San Diego Adding Electric Vehicles to Fleet

More than a dozen electric vehicles (EV) are scheduled to arrive next year at the Port of San Diego. Port commissioners recently voted to spend $820,000 to buy 14 electric vehicles from National Auto Fleet Group. The 10 medium-duty pickup trucks and four vans will launch the port’s conversion to a zero-emissions fleet, replacing gas or diesel-powered vehicles, the port said March 9. The purchase puts into action the port’s Maritime Clean Air Strategy goals set forth by the community and other stakeholders, Dan Malcolm, chair of the Board of Port Commissioners said. “Not only is our approach to improving…

Port of Everett Inks Deal for Restoration of Historic Waterfront Building

The Port of Everett has signed a 10-year lease with Weyerhaeuser Muse LLC to renovate and reopen the historic 1920s Weyerhaeuser Building on the waterfront. The contract with the company owned by Jack and Jin Ng of China City Property LLC calls for plans to install a new whiskey bar and coffee shop called The Muse and space for the Port of Everett Marina boating clubs to meet. The port plans to spend up to $1 million to renovate and ready the building for tenant improvements later this year. The port hopes to open the building in 2023; it would…

Letter from the Editor: Maritime Cyberattacks

Although large amounts of news and information have been circulating recently pertaining to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, there’s one nugget of information that’s flown under the radar so far: potential retaliation against the U.S. maritime transportation sector. The remarks didn’t receive much media attention, but national Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly recently said that America’s maritime transportation sector could be an infrastructure soft spot that Russia may try to disrupt via cyberattack. “Given the vital role of the industry, the importance of securing systems and functions that make up the maritime transportation sector cannot be…

USCG Kimball Offloads Illegal Drugs in San Diego

Crew members with the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Kimball on March 31 delivered over 11,300 pounds of seized cocaine and over 4,000 pounds of apprehended marijuana in San Diego. The more than $223 million worth of drugs was taken during eight interdictions in February and March in the Eastern Pacific Ocean with the help of partnering vessels. The Kimball, a 420-foot Legend-Class National Security Cutter homeported in Honolulu, played a major role in the drug seizures, including one interdiction resulting in roughly 2,295 pounds of cocaine; a joint effort with Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship Yellowknife to seize about 331 pounds…

Newsmakers

Port of Long Beach Appoints Program Management Division Lead Tasha Higgins has been chosen to helm the Port of Long Beach’s Program Management Division, which is responsible for improving waterways, wharfs, terminals, railroads, bridges, roadways and utilities, the port announced Wednesday, March 16. The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners appointed Higgins, who joined the port in October 2020 as assistant director of program management. Her appointment took effect March 26. Higgins previously spent nearly three decades working on various transportation improvement programs for Long Beach Transit, Los Angeles World Airports, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and other…

Foss to Open East Coast Terminal Supporting Offshore Wind Projects

Seattle-based Foss Maritime is teaming up with Cannon Street Holdings LLC to redevelop a 30-acre former Sprague/Eversource site at the Port of New Bedford in Massachusetts into the New Bedford Foss Marine Terminal, Foss announced in March. The terminal, set to open in March 2023, is designed to support offshore wind projects off Massachusetts and the northeastern coast seaboard by providing office space for project teams, coordination space for project technicians and yards for storing and laying down equipment and materials, as well as “berth facilities for tug and barge operations, and host crew transfer vessel and service operation vessel…