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First Large Aerospace Ship Arrives in Everett

[ September 1, 2015   //   ]

This month, the Port of Everett and Westwood Shipping Lines are marking the 10th anniversary of weekly, direct aerospace shipments from Japan to Everett with a new, larger vessel calling the Port of Everett.
In the early 2000s, the Port Commission made the strategic decision to invest more than $50 million to improve the Port’s Infrastructure to streamline and improve the aerospace logistics chain to support the world’s largest aerospace manufacturer.
This investment included the installation of the two, 40-ton capacity gantry cranes at Pacific Terminal, the purchase of 3 x 45 ton reachstackers, the construction of Mount Baker Terminal, a custom aerospace facility in south Everett and addition of a 50-ton capacity rail mounted gantry crane. These infrastructure investments created the partnership opportunity with Westwood Shipping Lines to bring aerospace shipments directly to the Port of Everett. Prior to this investment, the ships unloaded in Seattle or Tacoma and the parts were barged to the Port of Everett.
“These infrastructure investments allowed our region to successfully compete for the 787 and 777X airplane programs,” Port of Everett CEO Les Reardanz said. “By investing in our infrastructure and developing this partnership with Westwood Shipping Lines, we are better able to support our customer and job growth in the community.”
City of Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson said that recent success in the State Legislature on a transportation investment package will allow the City and the Port to improve freight routes from the marine terminals to Interstate 5.
Now, after 10 years, the industry is trending toward larger vessels and the Port of Everett is working to meet the Port Commission’s initiative to add 1,000-foot+ berths to continue to meet our customer’s needs – and those investments can’t come soon enough.
On August 11, the Port of Everett welcomed the Westwood Robson, a 686-foot container ship that is transporting aerospace parts and other general cargoes from Japan to Everett. The new, larger vessel can only be serviced at Pier 1, because its bow can extend into the waterway. Typically, the aerospace shipments are handled at Pacific Terminal, but its berth length is only 650-feet. Per the Commission’s initiative, staff is working on implementing the Marine Terminals Master Plan (2008) to strengthen and enhance South Terminal to better accommodate the larger vessels.
The Port and Westwood have worked together to successfully transport all of the oversized components for the 747, 767, 777 and KC-Tanker. The Port of Everett now supports more than 35,000 jobs in the region, up from 6,000 in 2005, and supports the largest export custom’s district in the State, and the third district on the U.S. West Coast.

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