Push & pull.

• Author: Denny, Catherine
• Position: Anderson Tug and Barge, Seward, Alaska - Company profile

Push & Pull

HE GREW UP ON TUG boats, traversing the waters between Alaska and Seattle, as much accustomed to the roll of waves beneath him as the solidness of ground. She was a Seattle city girl who had never set foot on a boat in her life. Together, Sharon and John "Andy" Anderson discovered a niche in the Seward shipping market and in 1978 formed Anderson Tug and Barge.

Sharon Anderson says, "We found a niche that we could fit into. There was no local movement of tugs and barges. The equipment coming up from Seattle was too large for Alaska harbors, so we had our own equipment designed and built for Alaska conditions."

Because Seattle tugs and barges often are too deep for the shallow waters of many Alaska harbors, the Andersons had medium-sized tugs and barges with shallow drafts built. "Many Alaska harbors have no docks, so the tugs need to be able to beach, and they need stronger hulls," Sharon Anderson explains.

At first launching, she was the ship cook for the one-tug, one-barge company on a trip from Seattle to Anchorage. "I got fired as cook right away - I wasn't very good at it," Anderson recalls. She now serves as secretary/ treasurer of the company, and her husband is president.

Growing up on the Gulf of Alaska, John Anderson has the sea in his blood. His family owned and operated Cook Inlet Tug and Barge, based in Seldovia, and he was operating tugs for the business at the age of 16.

Anderson later joined the Navy and served in Vietnam as a navigator on an aircraft carrier. Later, he circumnavigated the globe many times as a second mate in the Merchant Marine. He had returned to Alaska and become vice president of his family's business when he met Sharon on a trip to Seattle. His younger brother now runs Cook Inlet Tug and Barge.

The Andersons chose Seward as a base for strategic reasons: As the southern terminus of the Alaska Railroad, Seward is the only ice-free Alaska port with both road and rail service to the Interior. "We left Anchorage because we wanted to work our people 12 months out of the year. Seward was more protected and its port is growing fast," says Sharon Anderson.

"We took a chance. It was a risk, but hopefully the port will continue to grow. Seward is on the Great Circle route. It's the closest route possible to continue on your way and yet not go out of your way," says Anderson. The Great Circle is a navigator's term for the shortest route between the Pacific Rim and the U.S. coast.

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