Crowley Maritime Corporation

watch a vintage hydro-train video clip at crowley.com/AlaskaHydroTrain crowley's Alaska hydro-train In 1969, realizing that Alaska had many more natural resources to offer outside of black gold, Crowley began avidly supporting the fishing industry, the state's second largest export product. In the early days, Crowley started a lightering operation (the process of transferring cargo between vessels of different sizes) for the salmon canneries to deliver fresh and canned fish and supplies to and from major hubs, such as Dutch Harbor and Kodiak. That operation eventually became the company's freight business PAL West (Pacific Alaska Lines) as the fishing industry evolved from canneries to frozen and offshore fish buyers. This close relationship has developed to include active support of various Alaska fisheries and training programs. More recently, Crowley has provided offshore "floater" fueling services in Bristol Bay, so vessels could fish longer by having refueling services near their fishing grounds. Below: Crowley's BC-152 barge delivers cargo and fuel to commercial fishing fleets in Bristol Bay. Bottom: A Crowley Pacific Alaska Lines West vessel departs from Seattle en route to Western Alaska with a load of containerized and out-of-gauge cargo. Crowley has continued to be the go-to team for petroleum companies seeking to set up exploration and extraction operations in Cook Inlet since oil was discovered beneath the inlet floor in the 1960s. Early on, the company pioneered a technique of rafting tugs together in a flotilla to achieve the necessary horsepower required for the tidal variations and 12-knot currents of the area. They also established Rig Tenders Dock Company to furnish supply and crew boat services to oil industry officials, thus beginning a long and mutually profitable business. In 1967, Crowley built Nikiski Dock, also known as Rig Tenders Dock, near Kenai to provide stevedoring services, cargo-handling, and equipment and warehouse storage. This dock, now owned by APC Natchiq continues to operate in support of Cook Inlet's offshore oil and gas market. When oil was discovered at Prudhoe Bay in 1968 and neither air nor overland service were suitable for the kinds of colossal equipment and supporting cargo needed to extract and process the oil on the North Slope, the oil industry again turned to Crowley. The frozen tundra of the North Slope is 250 miles above the Arctic Circle and linked to Prince William Sound in Valdez to the south by the more than 800-mile, Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. Despite unbelievable challenges, the company to this day continually finds solutions to moving the biggest and heaviest cargoes, such as oil exploration platforms and production modules, to the most unforgiving work fields, such as Prudhoe Bay, on the North Slope. Crowley formed a joint venture with Pacific Island Navigation, called Arctic Marine Freighters, to perform transports to Prudhoe Bay. Many of the first eight 3

• Cover