June 2010 / Volume 23 Issue 2
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june 2010 / volume 23 issue 2 Brian DalBalcon EVERGREEN ARRIVAL The Evergreen Line containership Ever Uberty approached the Port of Tacoma recently, with the Olympic Mountains providing a back- drop and the Foss tugs Henry Foss, right, and Pacific Star providing assist and escort. The 935-foot ship has a listed capacity of 5,652 20-foot container equivalent units, was built in 1999 and has a service speed of 25 knots. Evergreen, which makes its Pacific Northwest home in Tacoma, is a regular customer of Foss Maritime. Uberty is an English noun meaning “abundance.” FOSS WINS CONTRACT Foss has been awarded a 10-year contract under which the company will station FOR RESPONSE TUG a tug year-round at Neah Bay to prevent disabled ships and barges from drifting onto rocks and causing oil spills in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and on Washington’s IN NEAH BAY, WASH. outer coast. The contract for the Emergency Response Towing Vessel (ERTV), won in a competitive bid against several other companies, returns Foss to Neah Bay duty Continued on page 4 WbmWoih[WZo LINES Foss Wins Response Tug Contract Alternatives to the ‘Hawse Pipe’ In a Foss will head back to Neah Bay, Wash., in July with the Jeffrey Foss, which will serve year- Challenging Regulatory Environment round as the state’s Emergency Response Towing Vessel, on standby to help tankers and Ensuring that we have an adequate mechanics at Foss Shipyard and in other vessels that lose power or otherwise become disabled. Foss previously held the pool of mariners to crew our vessels our Red Dog crew are learning the contract from 2000 to 2006. has always been challeng- basic skills to become chief Cover ing. But federal regulations engineers, which they can do Comic Strip to Focus on Safety and training requirements with additional onboard Southern California Tankbarge Manager Ron Costin and Assistant Tankerman Brian enacted over the last few training. Snelson are collaborating on a new comic years have made it even We also are adding oiler strip that aims to use humor to convey safety more challenging, particu- positions on our larger tugs, messages. Called “Ask Shippy,” the strip will larly for the licensed deck enabling would-be engineers be a regular feature in Tow Bitts. officers and engineers. to accumulate sea time. Page 6 Adding to the challenge is Similarly, on the deck side, Salvaging Oil from a 58-Year-Old Shipwreck the fact that many of our we have several entry-level Foss is helping Global Diving and Salvage shipmates are within a few positions for ordinary seamen and other companies in removing bunker years of retirement. to learn the skills necessary fuel from the wreck of the Princess Kathleen, It used to be that deck officers and to become able-bodied seamen. a Canadian passenger ship that sank near engineers in our industry, unless they In February, two of our cadets Juneau, Alaska in 1952. All 300 passengers were rescued. attended maritime academies, could graduated from the PMI mate Page 10 “come up through the hawse pipe.” program, having already started their This tried-and-true process was the Foss careers by putting in six months A Family Full of Marathoners Human Resources Supervisor Angie mainstay for our corps of licensed of sea time. They are Max Cota and Upchurch, her mother and her two sisters all personnel. Katie Wixom, she the daughter of an competed in walking or running marathons Ambitious sailors, engineers and Idaho sheep farmer and he the son of in April, and the family has plenty of experi- cooks would accumulate sea time a San Francisco bar pilot. (See article ence in sports that require leg power. All four while taking courses as they could on page 11.) Michael Mann finished the women also are soccer players. and then sitting for Coast Guard program last year and recently got his Page 17 examinations. Today, with all the new first assignment as a deck officer, as Looking Aft: Wake Island Foss historian Mike Skalley reviews Foss’ training requirements, that path to the training mate on the Lauren Foss. involvement in military operations at Wake wheelhouse and to chief engineer is a These three young people are help- Island in the South Pacifi c during World difficult road that could take seven ing us create a wheelhouse succession War II. The Justine Foss, one of several tugs years or more to travel. plan. It also is my fervent hope that assigned to Wake, was caught in the Japanese So in the case of deck officers, kick starting their careers will engen- invasion of the island and its crew was Foss has stepped forward to help der in them a sense of loyalty to Foss. executed. This spring, the Iver Foss paid a visit to the island, hauling a load of facilitate an easier path permitted And the loyalty of our employees, military cargo. Page 19 under the Coast Guard regulations. sometimes from several generations We are sponsoring cadets enrolled in of the same family, is one of our com- a two-year mate program that com- pany’s greatest strengths. bines sea time and classroom training So here’s a welcome to Max, Katie, To submit articles for Tow Bitts, please at Pacific Maritime Institute in Seattle. Michael and all of our new mariners, contact Bruce Sherman, editor, [email protected], or Earl Clark, The Maritime Institute of Technology whether they came through the hawse coordinator of production, [email protected]. and Graduate Studies in Maryland pipe or from one of the schools. Here’s The Tow Bitts graphic designer is Barbara offers a similar program. hoping that they have long, satisfying Hoberecht. Tow Bitts is published quarterly On the engineering side, we are and safe careers with Foss. They are by Foss Maritime for employees, customers trying to help people through the our future. and friends. Changes to the Tow Bitts challenging hawse pipe approach. mailing list should be referred to the Marine Personnel office in Seattle, Several Foss regions have yard (206) 281-3821/3958. engineers working shoreside on vessel maintenance and repairs and President and Chief Operating Offi cer learning mechanical systems. Also, See Pacific Maritime Institute on page 11. 2 • Foss Tow Bitts • ALWAYS READY • June, 2010 The Foss barge Noatak lighters ore to a ship near the Red Dog Mine port. Foss and Teck Extend Red Dog Mine Lightering Contract Foss Maritime and Teck, a since 1990. During the 2009 Red Dog season, diversified mining company based “The renewal of this contract is in spite of adverse weather that slowed in Vancouver, Canada, have signed a great news for Foss,” said President operations in August and part of multi-year agreement under which and COO Gary Faber. “It is an September, Foss delivered near-record Foss will continue to lighter ore from endorsement of our past performance, production, lightering 1.37 million tons the Red Dog Mine in the Alaskan and we are thrilled to move forward of ore to 25 ships. arctic to cargo ships anchored into the next 20 years of operations.” The Red Dog operation has helped offshore. The agreement followed lengthy Foss build a reputation for operating The agreement sustains an exist- negotiations between Teck and Foss. safely and efficiently in the world’s ing 20-year relationship between Foss Frank Williamson, Foss vice president harshest environments. The three-year and the mining company, ensuring health, safety, quality and general sealift to Russia’s Sakhalin Island continuation of what has been a major counsel, led the Foss negotiating team. oilfields ending in 2006 is among annual project for Foss. Foss has sent “It was great to work with Teck in other examples of the company’s four ocean-going tugs, two specialized negotiating the renewal,” Williamson remote-area expertise. lightering barges, and dozens of crew- said. “We appreciate our long and members to Red Dog every summer prosperous relationship with Teck.” STEPHENS BECOMES FOSS CHIEF OF STAFF; MAGILL TAKES OVER TECHNICAL SERVICES Andy Stephens, formerly Foss employee since 1993, most recently vice president for technical services, overseeing the Shipyards, Purchasing has been appointed Vice President, and Engineering departments. Andy Stephens Mike Magill Planning and Business Development As vice president technical services, and also will serve as chief of staff to Magill takes over responsibility for Faber said Stephens “brings with President and Chief Operating Officer Foss Shipyards and the Purchasing him extensive knowledge of our Gary Faber. Mike Magill, formerly and Engineering departments. A few company and experience in the strate- with K-Sea Transportation, succeeds years ago, K-Sea, his former company, gic planning process.” He said Foss is Stevens in the technical services post. bought Sea Coast Towing, then a Foss happy to have Magill join the team. Stephens will be responsible for sister company. Magill has extensive “With his extensive domestic and top-tier, long-term strategic planning senior management experience in all international maritime experience, he and business development for all facets of the marine transportation will be a great asset to the company,” Foss companies. He has been a Foss industry. Faber said. June, 2010 • ALWAYS SAFE • Foss Tow Bitts • 3 NEAH BAY RESPONSE TUG CONTRACT (Continued from cover) for the first time since the fall of 2006. In that year, the company opted out of the standby tug contract because it was experiencing a shortage of tugs on The Jeffrey Foss will be on station at Neah Bay beginning in July 2010. Puget Sound. Foss had held the contract since in Louisiana and rebuilt in 1999 at shifted from the state to the maritime 2000, when the state established the Foss Shipyard.