Naknek News

A fuel barge has become stuck in mud on the Naknek River in Naknek, Alaska, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Wednesday. The Coast Guard said it is responding to the Crowley BC-152 barge, which settled in the mud and began to show signs of structural stress while offloading petroleum product."This barge did not run aground, but became stuck in the mud during low tide yesterday as it was offloading product," said Lt. James Nunez, incident management division chief for Coast Guard Sector…

Alaska marine transportation company Alaska Marine Lines said that it is expanding its service from Seattle and Anchorage to the Arctic Region in 2019.Bowhead Transport will provide the destination services at the North Slope villages of Point Hope, Point Lay, Wainwright, Utqiagvik (Barrow), and Kaktovik. Alaska Marine Lines will also service Deadhorse with its two annual sealifts.Bowhead, thru its teaming agreement with Alaska Marine Lines, will continue to participate in the door-to-shore service to the Arctic that it initiated over 30 years ago.The new stops will be added to Alaska Marine Lines' many ports of call, joining the major hubs of Naknek…

Crowley Maritime Corporation recently awarded four Thomas B. Crowley, Sr., Memorial Scholarships to University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) students Alexandra Bateman, Gabrielle Bragg, Diloola Erickson and Kimberly Greenway. These students were chosen for their outstanding academic records and having met other scholarship criteria. They each received $2,500 toward tuition. Preferences for Crowley-funded UAF scholarships are given to Alaska natives from Crowley-served communities throughout the state…

Leader Creek Fisheries has expanded their operation to include large vessel storage out of Bristol Bay in Naknek, Alaska and has devised a one of a kind system to save time and money in the dry docking process. All the vessels in this region must be placed out of the water for winter and winter is a very long season that far North. If the vessels could not be pulled from the water, they would need to be either beached or driven to other locations for the haul out process. It could take up to 10 days to reach the best haul out location in Seattle.

The Greenbrier Companies announced today that its Gunderson Marine division in Portland, Oregon has received orders for three oceangoing deck cargo barges valued at approximately $25 million. Coupled with other recent orders, Greenbrier's marine backlog is now valued at over $35 million, and extends into mid-2005. The first order is for a 360' deck cargo barge for Alaska Marine Lines, a Lynden Company, the third in a series of such barges it has ordered from the Company. The other two orders are 380' deck cargo barges for Naknek Barge Lines, LLC based in Seattle, Washington.

Coastwise Corporation recently completed a landing craft design for Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska. The vessel is a shallow water roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) passenger and vehicle ferry. This new 65 foot vessel has a beam of 21 feet, travels at eight knots, operates with a crew of two and can carry ten passengers. It was designed to carry full size road graders, loaders, and tanker trucks. The vessel’s aluminum ramp is designed to load these heavy vehicles from un-improved beaches. Designated as a day-boat the ro/ro landing craft will operate June to mid-September and be hauled out of the lake, prior to freeze up. Fully loaded the vessel draws just over three feet of water.

Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG) has added two more projects to its portfolio, furthering its experience providing production support to landing craft vessels. The Seattle-based naval architecture and marine engineering firm delivered production support detail drawings for Kvichak Marine Industries' design of 10 MPF utility boats for the U.S. Navy. The 40-ft. high-speed landing craft are replacing the Navy's existing LCM-8 craft as part of its Improved Navy Lighterage System in support of the pre-positioned Marine Amphibious assault missions. Because of the large number of identical boats being constructed, EBDG tailored their work package to support an assembly line production approach.

Coast Guard marine safety officials are investigating a collision between two fishing vessels that occurred Monday in Bristol Bay. The 50-foot Ms. Ingrid and the 85-foot High Spirit near Naknek collided about 1 a.m. The Ms. Ingrid suffered extensive damage to the vessel's bow. The skipper aboard Ms. Ingrid intentionally grounded the boat on a mud flat to conduct repairs. The High Spirit suffered minimal damage and continued fishing. Coast Guard marine safety officials from Anchorage are investigating the collision. No injuries occurred to anyone aboard either vessel.

Maritime Administrator Captain William G. Schubert highlighted the capabilities of the U.S.-Flag fleet in an effort to respond to allegations that U.S.-flag vessels are not available to ease present cargo congestion in West Coast ports. "Qualified Jones Act vessels are standing by with available tonnage on the West Coast to assist any shipper or carrier in moving cargo forward as necessary," Schubert stated. Schubert added, "The Maritime Administration is carefully evaluating all potential alternatives that would alleviate congestion in the ports, and expedite the delivery of cargo to its final destination. According to the U.S. CSX-LINES - will divert a ship if necessary to pick up cargo in LA to ease port congestion for Oakland or provide other lifts to ease congestion.