An unusual sight in Port Angeles Harbor last week: two fully loaded container ships anchored in the harbor.
They were unable to secure berths in Seattle or Tacoma because of an ongoing work slowdown by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.
On Thursday, the Antwerp, the 920-foot ship that was anchored midharbor, made her way to Vancouver, B.C., where presumably she was able to have her containers unloaded.
Bear Mountain Bridge, the 875-foot container ship that was anchored off Lees Creek in the eastern harbor area, left Port Angeles on Friday morning for Tacoma.
North Olympic Peninsula water-watchers shouldn’t see any more container visitors.
The dockworkers union for Seattle, Tacoma and other West Coast ports and the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents terminal operators, reportedly overcame one of the hurdles Thursday that’s stalled bargaining and ports since Halloween.
The Puget Sound Business Journal reported that the agreement involves who will repair chassis, the truck beds used to transport shipping containers from ships to the docks.
Work vessel
I spoke in Port Angeles last week with George Rains, captain of Maritime Maid, an 86-foot steel boat that is based in Homer, Alaska.
She was initially built as a tuna boat in Wilmington, Calif., in 1971.
Maritime Maid was converted to a research vessel in the mid-1980s.
George said the boat carries a Bell helicopter on her aft deck, and for 15 years, they were contracted to the U.S. Forest Service to inventory the forest from the Dixon Entrance to Kodiak, Alaska.
Dixon Entrance is the narrow waterway in the Pacific Ocean that serves as the international boundary between Alaska and British Columbia.
George said the research vessel is available to governmental entities and private concerns alike.
He added that last year, the vessel did some mapping and surveying work with British Petroleum in Cook Inlet to assess the viability of a terminal to convert natural gas to liquid natural gas.
He added that scientists from the National Science Foundation have been aboard to install seismometers on the Islands of Four Mountains to monitor potential future volcanic activity.
The seismometers were put in place at the request of the Federal Aviation Administration to give it advance warning of ash plumes that would be a hazard to airliners.
Harbor haul-out
Platypus Marine, the full-service shipyard, yacht-repair facility and steel-boat manufacturer on Marine Drive in Port Angeles, hauled Majestik out of the water last week.
She is a 75-foot commercial fishing vessel that hails from Newport, Ore.
I understand she recently was in Westport in Grays Harbor County when she lost her rudder.
The steel vessel was towed to Port Angeles, and personnel at Platypus are building a new rudder for the boat.
Fueling action
Tesoro Petroleum, which operates fueling and the tank farm on Port Angeles Harbor, bunkered Millennium Falcon, a 420-foot, Panamanian-flagged general cargo ship, last week.
The ship with the great name from “Star Wars” then got underway for Everett.
On Friday, Tesoro refueled Yamuna Spirit, a 900-foot crude oil tanker that had made her way to Port Angeles from Saudi Arabia.
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David G. Sellars is a Port Angeles resident and former Navy boatswain’s mate who enjoys boats and strolling the area’s waterfronts.
Items and questions involving boating, port activities and the North Olympic Peninsula waterfronts are always welcome. Email dgsellars@hotmail.com or phone him at 360-808-3202. His column, On the Waterfront, appears Sundays.
