Puget Sound ports of call.

• Author: Denny, Catherine
• Position: Bellingham, Seattle, Tacoma, Washington state

Puget Sound Ports Of Call

WITH ALASKAN TRADE responsible for more than 3 percent of Washington state's employment, Puget Sound ports strive ever harder to tie the anchors of the Last Frontier to their shores. Dynamic forces in their local economies, the ports of Bellingham, Tacoma and Seattle also help to pump billions of dollars annually into the Washington economy.

Community leaders in Washington long ago recognized the strategic value of the state's deep-water ports in linking the transportation needs up north to the contiguous states and beyond. Sometimes referred to as "gateways" to Alaska, its major ports serve as essential connections in Alaska's trade and travel routes.

The Port of Seattle, the third largest container port on the West Coast - only smaller than Los Angeles and Long Beach - has been a crucial trade and travel link to Alaska for nearly a century. The Port of Bellingham is a long-time harbor for vessels fishing in Alaska and is the new southern terminus of the Alaska Marine Highway System. The Port of Tacoma is an industrial port and the sixth largest container port in North America. All three perform significant roles in an increasingly interdependent economic relationship with the 49th state.

Roots of the connection can be traced to 1897 and the Klondike Gold Rush. Miners seeking their riches in the Great Land were required by law to carry one year's worth of supplies. In an aggressive promotional campaign, Seattle launched itself as the "obvious departure point to the Yukon." Miners by the thousands were outfitted there for the trek north.

Ships returned carrying gold from the Last Frontier. Soon the number and size of ships available were no longer adequate for the hordes of miners waiting for passage. Business boomed due to increasing demand, and by the turn of the century, the Washington-Alaska bond was "set in gold."

Washington's role in serving its resource-rich neighbor to the north has flourished since gold rush days. As the 1900s progressed, competition among Puget Sound ports to serve Alaska's growing business community continued to increase.

System Go. To compete and prosper as a transportation hub in this day of burgeoning trade requires leading-edge methods of cargo handling, and Puget Sound ports have embraced technology. For example, Seattle was the first U.S. port to computerize tracing of cargo movement systems. It has developed computer applications to help its customers track cargo shipments and electronically exchange information.

Pairing cargo transfer technology with land and warehousing facilities enables ports to attract large shipping lines as tenants of port grounds. With successful shipping companies serving the communities, the port is a more attractive trading partner.

One critical step in attracting business to the ports has been construction and utilization of intermodal transportation, which combines air, land and sea transport to move goods. Seattle calls its freight network the "Seattle System." It operates the largest port-owned and managed transportation, warehousing and distribution service in the United States. The port's domain includes Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and 1.5 million square feet of warehousing and distribution space.

In the past decade, the port initiated several programs to expedite cargo transfer. Although Seattle has long had rail yards close to the dock, it did not have rail spurs on the dock until last year. "Seattle Shortcut" is the name Seattle uses in promoting its intermodal facilities, while the Port of Tacoma markets its capabilities as the "Tacoma Advantage."

The Washington-Alaska trade relationship serves two important functions. First, Alaska needs convenient ports through which to direct its abundant natural resources, and Puget Sound ports have the infrastructures to accommodate that need. Second, Alaska imports many goods, including food stuffs and manufactured items that are either unavailable or inadequate at home.

According to a study of Alaska's impact on the Puget Sound region commissioned by the Seattle and Tacoma ports and chambers of...