Issue link: http://digital.nexsitepublishing.com/i/149407
Below: A Crowley supply boat attends to a drilling rig platform in Cook Inlet, AK. as the portfolio of services evolved into more than just petroleum and general cargo solutions. Today, Crowley provides sealift support, large-scale fuel storage, highway fuel terminals and delivery, ship management, ship assist and escort, and so much more. Backed by Crowley's widespread and diverse resources, the success of the regional operation is due in large part to the company's 23 local offices which are strategically located throughout the state, employing more than 550 people who proudly call Alaska home. After Crowley's successful entrance into the Alaska market, the company's footprint and reputation quickly grew. In 1956, as it began supplying the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line radar installations for the U.S. Air Force, marking the first penetration of the Arctic by commercial tug and barge service. The DEW Line was set up to detect incoming Soviet bombers during the Cold War, and provide early warning of any sea-and-land Right: Crowley began offering Hydro-Train services in 1963 in support of the Alaskan Railroad. 2 invasion. This accomplishment was a prelude to the development of the North Slope and to the diverse cargo and sealift projects that Crowley would undertake across the Arctic in decades to come. It also helped establish the company's reputation of excellence which modern day customers have come to expect. Crowley again answered the call of Alaskans in 1958 by becoming the first company to offer common carrier transportation of cargo in containers from the Lower 48 to Alaska utilizing traditional tug and barge service. This carriage expanded in 1963 as Crowley began the Alaska Hydro-Train in support of the Alaska Railroad. The Hydro-Train melded rail and barge transportation as Crowley loaded rail cars in Seattle, delivering them to the Alaska Railroad terminal in Whittier, and then on to Fairbanks and Anchorage. This operation required barges to be equipped with tracks on deck to carry about 50 railcars on each leg of the weekly, 2,756-mile roundtrip delivery.