By Mark Edward Nero
Alaska Marine Lines celebrated the launch of its newest barge, Skagway Provider, at a July 7 ceremony at Gunderson Marine in Portland, Oregon where the vessel was constructed.
The heavy deck cargo barge is expected to make its maiden voyage from Seattle to Southeast Alaska on July 29, and will begin serving Alaska Marine Lines customers on the Seattle to Southeast Alaska route.
“We are proud to offer our customers additional capacity between Seattle and Southeast Alaska via the Skagway Provider,” Alaska Marine Lines President Kevin Anderson said in a statement. “It represents a significant investment in our Southeast Alaska service.”
Most Southeast communities have no land-route link with either the Lower 48 or the rest of Alaska,” he explained. “Virtually everything comes in by water – cars, heavy equipment, food and medical supplies – so providing reliable, efficient and safe equipment to serve our customers is extremely important to us.”
The Skagway Provider’s 360-foot by 100-foot by 22-foot hull has capacity for 13,200 tons of cargo or about 800 20-foot containers, and is in the same class as Alaska Marine Lines’ barges Sitka Provider, Southeast Provider and Stikine Provider.
Gunderson Marine has long been a supplier for Alaska Marine Lines, constructing 16 barges for the company over the past 18 years.
Alaska Marine Lines is part of the Lynden family of companies, which includes 17 freight and logistics businesses in Hawaii, Alaska, Canada and beyond.
ASL offers twice weekly barge service to Southeast Alaska including Juneau, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Sitka, Haines, Skagway, Wrangell, as well as twice-weekly service to Central Alaska, seasonal service to Western Alaska, and bi-weekly service to Hawaii.
