Arthur Foss News

U.S. Navy hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) arrived in Los Angeles, Friday to support the nation’s COVID-19 response efforts.While in Los Angeles, the ship will serve as a referral hospital for non-COVID-19 patients currently admitted to shore-based hospitals, and will provide a full spectrum of medical care to include general surgeries, critical care and ward care for adults. This will allow local health professionals to focus on treating COVID-19 patients and for shore-based hospitals to use their Intensive Care Units and ventilators for those patients.Operated by Military Sealift Command…

With a combined 840 years without an environmental incident, 84 Foss Maritime and subsidiary companies' tugs and tank barges have been recognized by a major maritime organization for their environmental safety records. The Chamber of Shipping of America (CSA) announced the 2014 Environmental Achievement Awards honoring the Seattle company's work on November 13 in Washington, D.C. Foss and its sister companies have seen an average of 10 years without an environmental incident, with 12 vessels achieving 20-plus years of environmental excellence, including the Stellar Wind and the Arthur Foss.

The Arthur Foss, the Justine Foss and many other Foss Maritime vessels have been free of environmental mishaps for the past 20 years. In fact, 80 tugs and barges owned by the Seattle-based company, which has one of the nation's largest coastal tug and barge fleet, are being recognized this year by a major maritime organization for their outstanding environmental safety records. The Chamber of Shipping of America (CSA) announced the awards honoring Foss' environmental achievements earlier this month in the nation's capital.

Foss Maritime, founded by the matriarch of the Foss family in 1889, is as much a cultural icon on the U.S. West Coast as McAllister or Moran are on the East Coast. Norwegian immigrant Thea Foss began the business when she bought her first row boat in Tacoma, Wash. and painted it the signature green and white. The Foss family grew the business into a launch  service ferrying crew and supplies in the 1910s, then shifted into towing work in the 1940s. Thea Foss is considered the inspiration for Tug Boat Annie…

For 18 years, the Drew Foss, a tugboat operated by the Foss Maritime Company, has been free of environmental mishap. So have the Arthur Foss, the Justine Foss and a dozen other Foss vessels. In fact, 59 vessels owned by the Seattle-based Foss are being recognized by a major maritime organization for their standout environmental safety records. Altogether, the Foss vessels feted by CSA have gone a combined 551 years without an environmental incident. "When we talk with our customers, their first concern is safety and the environment," said Gary Faber, the company's president and COO.

Until now there have not been many songs about West Coast tugboats, but the release of a new CD, “Northwest Tugboat Tales,” helps correct this gap. This CD contains seventeen songs that tell the stories of tugboats from Alaska down to California, with a focus on Washington and British Columbia. Most of the songs are based on true incidents, and all reflect the dramatic lives of the hard-working men and women who operate West Coast tugboats, whose stories are seldom heard by the public.

The Chamber of Shipping of America (CSA) presented the Foss vessels with Jones F. Devlin Awards at the Annual Safety Awards Luncheon held this year in New Orleans, Louisiana. The awards are given to self-propelled merchant vessels that have operated for two full years or more without a crew member losing a full turn at watch because of an occupational injury. Altogether, the Foss ships achieved the equivalent of 144 years without a lost-time injury. Foss Devlin vessels honored (and the number of years the ships have been injury free) were: American River (three years)…

For 17 years, the Arthur Foss, a tugboat operated by the Foss Maritime Company, has been free of environmental mishap. So have the Drew Foss and a dozen other Foss vessels. Sixty-seven vessels owned by Foss and three subsidiaries are being recognized by a major maritime organization for their standout environmental safety records. The Chamber of Shipping of America (CSA) is honoring the Foss vessels along with vessels from three Foss subsidiaries - Gulf Caribe Maritime, America Cargo Transport, and Constellation Maritime.