In praise of Alaska's lifelines.

• Author: Sullivan, Michael
• Position: Tugs and barge transportations

No one needs to be reminded of the importance of air transportation to Alaska. Without it, luxuries like fresh produce and current mail would be little more than a wish. Alaska's industries could be crippled without the possibility of receiving critical supplies on short notice, and lives might be in danger without the medications and assistance that can be delivered in a hurry by air. It is the stuff of lore.

But what about the rest of what Alaskans need and use on a daily basis? Many communities rely on tugs and barges to bring supplies from the Lower 48. From cat food to Cat' diesels, housewares to houses, groceries, clothing, hardware, cars, trucks, boats, buses, even airplanes, anything and everything imaginable can be shipped by barge, as long as the order is placed well in advance.

These tremendous amounts of goods do not move quickly. The usual tug with tow will average about 8 knots, while the so-called supertug, with even larger barges, can make as many as 12 nautical miles per hour.

Weather is the primary factor affecting the length of time it takes for commodities to arrive from Outside. The tugs and barges are often held up waiting for decent wind and sea conditions, especially during the winter months. Likewise, they can spend several days at a time caught in storms, going nowhere. An accumulation of these setbacks can add as much as two weeks to the normal transit time. Fortunately, during the summer when the bulk of shipping takes place, long delays are fewer.

The tugboats themselves are basically not much more than propulsion units and therefore quite compact. Engines and fuel tanks dominate, with scarcely any space for accommodations. Living and working inside one of these powerhouses in a storm with a barge in tow can be pure torture.

Considering that each barge is as much as 15 times greater in size than the tug, tending to the tow is downright hazardous. Needless to say, with as much time spent going up and down as is spent going ahead, Alaska's unpredictable weather takes quite a toll on the tug crews.

The same efficiency of design that contributes to the crew's misery allows the tug and barge combination to deliver an economic performance unmatched by any other mode of transportation. What this method of transportation lacks in speed, it makes up for in volume, and that's the key to its efficiency.

When you consider that the typical seagoing barge these days measures 300 feet long by about 75 feet wide, the advantage...