Seattle Dock
By Randy Thompson

The ARRC Seattle office is located on S Marginal Way at the AML office complex.

Each roundtrip from Seattle to Whittier and back is scheduled at 21 days, with three barges and a three week trip,
if all goes well the normal Seattle schedule has weekly loadings on Wednesdays and unloadings on Fridays.


Each of the three barges were built by Gunderson of Portland, Oregon. Their names are Anchorage Provider, Fairbanks Provider and Whittier Provider. Each barge has 8 tracks of about 400’ in length.

The tug was called the “Alaska Mariner” and has 4,000 hp from two diesel engines.

Added 3/9/16: The barges between Seattle and Whittier are operated by Alaska Marine Lines and towed by Western Towboat. They have eight tracks, each just over 400 feet long. The exact number of cars that can fit on a track depends on the length of the cars. Three of the barges on that route have overhead racks for containers. That route usually operates approximately on a weekly schedule, with arrivals in Whittier typically on Wednesday or Thursday. The exact schedule is, of course, dependent on weather en route.

There is one barge operating between Whittier and Prince Rupert. It is operated by Foss Marine. Lately it has been operating a little less often due to less traffic on that route. The barge is roughly the same size, but has no overhead racks. Also, tracks one and two have switches on the barge to track three, so their capacity is a little less than the others.

The following photos were taken on Friday, April 9th, 2004 at Harbor Island, Seattle.
 
 
#1 #2 3 4
Loaded, ready to go...containers on top, railcars below This is the Whittier Provider, 8 tracks x 400 feet Seattle skyline and the Whittier Provider Loaded, ready to go...containers on top, railcars below
5 6 7  
Barge ramp and dock from top of barge "Alaska Mariner" tugboat gets ready to send barge to sea "Gunderson" plate on front of barge  

 

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Page created 5/10/04 and last updated 3/9/16