Regional Towing Archives - Foss Maritime Company, LLC

Everett Crane Move

Waren Groom — Sat, 08 Aug 2020 15:53:04 +0000

The Project:

Foss Maritime transported two gantry cranes from the Port of Los Angeles to the Port of Everett, for use at the Port’s South Terminal. Each crane weighed 2.4 million pounds and measured 360 feet long by 120 feet wide. The powerful ocean tug Michele Foss towed the giant cranes aboard a Foss barge on the two-week, 1,177 nautical-mile journey.

Services Provided:

Project Services
Project Management
Ocean Towing
Harbor Towing

Highlights:

The South Terminal Modernization project will ensure the Port’s facilities are ready to support the next generation of over-dimensional cargo, including aerospace parts for the new Boeing 777X.
The Michele Foss encountered 60 mph winds and 12-foot waves north of San Francisco and safely backtracked during the journey to avoid the swells.
The new cranes are part of a $57 million upgrade underway to the Everett, WA waterfront.

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Foss Transports World’s Largest Railcar Barge

charityg — Mon, 02 May 2016 20:05:25 +0000

The Project:

Since 1993, Foss has safely guided the world’s largest railcar barge, the Aquatrain, for the Canadian National Railroad (CNR) between Prince Rupert, B.C., to Whittier, Alaska. Foss tugs, the Justine Foss and the Barbara Foss, tow the 100 by 400 foot barge on a 12-day cycle, 30 times a year, where it links with the Alaska Railroad for daily service to Anchorage and Fairbanks. The route is the shortest water route to Alaska by 600 miles, compared to southern ports. The CNR has offered this year-round service since 1962, with Foss assuming operations in 1993 with the purchase of Portland-based Brix Maritime.

Services Provided:

Project Logistics
Voyage Planning
Harbor Services
Ocean Towing

Highlights:

Both the 116-foot long Justine Foss and Barbara Foss are rated at 4,300 horsepower.
The barge is 400’ by 100’ with a capacity of 45 rail cars.
The Aquatrain barge was built in 1982 by Shin-A shipbuilding in South Korea and is the world’s largest railcar barge.
Railcars can travel intact from origin to destination on one bill of lading.
The service has operated for more than 50 years.

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One Thousandth Boeing Barge load Delivered

charityg — Mon, 02 May 2016 19:07:10 +0000

The Project:

Foss Maritime has worked with The Boeing Company of Everett, Washington for more than 20 years on a variety of projects. In 2011, Foss delivered the 1,000th barge load of containerized aircraft parts to the Port of Everett for Boeing. The aircraft parts arrive in the ports of Tacoma and Seattle where they are then barged by Foss to Pacific Terminal in Everett and placed on rail cars for transport to Boeing’s Everett plant. Foss continues this service today, transporting approximately 100 barge loads a year.

Services Provided:

Project Cargo & Logistics
Voyage Planning
Tug and Barge Regional Towing
Terminal Services

Highlights:

Tugs, such as the Andrew Foss, assist in moving the barge though the Puget Sound.
The containerized parts are carried on cargo ships from Japan to Seattle and Tacoma.
Foss has successfully delivered multiple barge loads for Boeing each week.

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Historic Final Voyage

charityg — Thu, 21 May 2015 16:40:36 +0000

The Project:

In 2014, Foss escorted the USS Constellation aircraft carrier on her historic final voyage. The Kitty Hawk-class supercarrier, nicknamed “Connie” by her crew, was successfully towed by ocean tug Corbin Foss from Bremerton Naval Shipyard to Brownsville, Texas to be retired and scrapped. The 16,000-mile journey took 160 days, with Foss guiding the massive vessel along Mexico and Central and South America, passing through the Straits of Magellan before heading north to Texas.

Services Provided:

Harbor Services
Ship Assist & Escort
Project Logistics
Voyage Planning
Ocean Towing

Highlights:

The USS Constellation is 1088 ft long, making it too large to travel through the Panama Canal, which is the traditional route to the Gulf Coast
Tug Lindsey Foss escorted the Connie from the Bremerton Naval Base to Blake Island where they handed the tow to the Corbin Foss
Completed the 16,000-mile journey in 160 days despite encountering gale force winds and massive seas
Orchestrated a global operations effort for fueling, pilots, assist tugs, and supplies in seven countries
Worked in a collaborative effort with a second tug company that assisted during the Pacific, South American portion of the tow

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Offshore Tanker Mooring Support

charityg — Sat, 12 Apr 2014 00:36:50 +0000

The Project:

Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, Foss’ five-vessel, 35-employee El Segundo Moorings Service Group berths huge tankers and ferries workers and stores to the El Segundo Marine Terminal, a vast tanker mooring just off the coast. For nearly three years, the division has conducted daily at-sea personnel transfers in a challenging environment without a single lost-time injury—a record that reflects Foss’ culture of safety. With this project, Foss services Chevron Shipping as part of their longstanding alliance to collaborate on operational requirements, equipment needs and safety.

Services Provided:

Ship Assist & Tanker Escort
Terminal Services
Line Handling & Launch
Regional Towing

Highlights:

The Brynn Foss, a 93-foot tractor tug, is stationed full time at the moorings to assist tankers into the berths
Two 65-foot line boats, the Lucy Foss, built in 2009 at Foss’ Rainier shipyard, and the Caribe Alliance, secure ships moored at the El Segundo offshore moorings
Two crew boats, the 60-foot Ava Foss, built in 2010 at Foss’ Rainier shipyard, and the 64-foot Caribe Horizon, ferry personnel and supplies to the El Segundo offshore moorings

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Mercosur Shuttle Group

charityg — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 18:09:48 +0000

The Project

For twelve years Foss Maritime Company owned and operated the Mercosur Shuttle Group (MSG), a tug and barge container feeder service. MSG operated primarily on the Hidrovia Waterway system, made up of the Rio Plate, Rio Paraná and Rio Paraguay, which have extremely low water levels (approximately 5 feet of available draft) during certain times of the year. MSG was able to successfully navigate these low waters using specifically built shallow draft tugs and large deck barges that had a much higher TEU/barge capacity than the smaller barges used by competing companies.

Services Provided:

Terminal Services
Liner Services
Cargo Tracking and Logistics
Regional Towing

Highlights:

MSG operated five large deck barges and four tugboats
Provided a scheduled common carriage container-on-barge freight service on these river systems
MSG acted as a connecting carrier for large ocean shipping lines, transporting primarily containers and automobiles
Large deck barges offered a competitive advantage – three of the five barges had a 280 TEU/barge capacity and the other two had a 320 TEU/barge capacity
MSG was transporting approximately 40,000 TEU’s per year, feeding a terminal network stretching 870 river miles from the main terminals in Montevideo and Buenos Aires to Asunción

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Kearl Oil Sands Module Transport

charityg — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 21:32:28 +0000

The Project:

Foss Maritime successfully delivered 155 Korean-built modules in support of the Kearl Oil Sands project near Fort McMurray, Alberta – one of Canada’s largest open-pit mining operations. The oversized modules were transported in 40 trips up the Columbia and Snake river system from Vancouver, WA to Pasco, WA and Lewiston, ID on barges retrofitted to operate in river conditions and travel in tandem. They were then transshipped to Canada to create the Kearl Sands state-of-the-art processing facility in the Athabasca Oil Sands region of northern Alberta.

Services Provided:

Harbor Towing
Project Cargo & Logistics
Ballasting & Mooring
Marine Engineering
Construction Support

Highlights:

Worked in partnership with Imperial Oil, ExxonMobil, Fluor, and Mammoet
ransported 155 pieces of production equipment sized up to 120’ by 24’ and 25’ high
Designed and fabricated ballasting systems for the barge Sitka; Upgraded and improved the system in barge 286-3
Provided ballasting in Lewiston, ID while modules were safely unloaded
Foss vessels the P.J. Brix tug pushed the barges while the Betsy L tug pulled the barges on a towline
The Kearl Sands project could eventually produce up to 345,000 barrels of oil per day
The complex and logistically challenging project was completed on time and ahead of schedule

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Shell Arctic Offshore Support

charityg — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 18:19:48 +0000

The Project:

Operating in the harsh Arctic environment, Foss Maritime offered a variety of support services to Shell Upstream Americas’ historical offshore exploration in Alaskan waters. Foss transported high-risk cargoes safely, and without incident, through a pristine, ecologically sensitive area. Foss provided rig towing through icy waters with two ice-classed tugs, a purposely-modified offshore warehouse barge, cargo barges, maintenance of vessels at the Foss Seattle shipyard, and general, terminal and harbor towing tugs and services in Alaska as well as the Puget Sound region.

Services Provided:

Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering
Project Cargo & Logistics
Ocean Towing
Terminal Services
Shipyard Services
Offshore Supply Services
Harbor Towing

Highlights:

Foss converted warehouse barge TUUQ from a deck barge to a combination deck cargo and chemical tank barge with a 300-ton crane
Ice-classed tug Lauren Foss towed the TUUQ and Shell Drillship Noble Discoverer during mobilization, while the Corbin Foss towed a barge containing the well containment system
The Barbara Foss served as the primary towing vessel for Shell’s KRS 330-11, which stored cement and various other cargoes near the operating theater for drilling operations. She was used later during the southbound demobilization of the Noble Discoverer to Dutch Harbor, AK.

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