Alaska towing update
While CSX Lines, TOTE and the Alaska Marine Highway System are the most visible services to Alaska, tug and barge common carriers form an essential lifeline along the state¹s coast line.
Alaska Outport Transportation Association (AOTA), a non-profit corporation, provides regular service to Southeast Alaska ports. The biggest destinations are Juneau and Sitka, but the core of the service is the small ports including, Hoonah, Gustavus and Pelican. AOTA has operated as a shipper cooperative for 37 years. The company currently operates the chartered tug Double Eagle and barge Adam D., a barge with a 144,000-cubic-foot refrigerated deckhouse forward and andeck aft serviced by a 40-ton crane. Seattle agent Jim Ferguson said the barge sails from Seattle to 10 Southeast ports biweekly during the summer and every three weeks in the spring and fall and reduced sailings in the winter. Ferguson said, "We haul general cargo northbound and southbound with seafood and dimension lumber."
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