From Shore to Shore: Washington and Oregon Have Alaska Covered.

• Author: ORR, VANESSA
• Position: Statistical Data Included

Much of what Alaska's consumers purchase comes to the state via Portland, Tacoma and Seattle.

Whether by sea, by land or by air, Washington and Oregon serve as essential transportation hubs to the state of Alaska. Consider This--without the ability to ship goods from the Lower 48 to the Last Frontier, the lifestyles that most of us take for granted wouldn't exist. Items that Alaskans use every day-from food to computers to cars-arrive via Portland, Tacoma and Seattle. And many of the goods that Alaska exports, including seafood, find their way to market back through these Northwest states.

By Water, Land and Rail

"Almost everything you consume in Alaska passes through the Puget Sound," explained Shari Gross, a consultant who represents the Port of Tacoma. In 1999, two-way trade between Tacoma and Alaska totaled $3.48 billion. Over 75 percent of all waterborne cargo to Alaska was shipped through the Port of Tacoma. In 2000, the port shipped 444,327 TEUs (or Twenty-foot Equivalent Units) to the Port of Anchorage--almost half a million containers.

"Alaska is our Number 3 trading partner," Gross continued, "and our two main carriers, CSX Lines (formerly SeaLand) and TOTE (Totem Ocean Trailer Express), generate lots of jobs in Pierce County (Tacoma). Last year, more than 1,700 jobs in Washington state were directly related to cargo going to Alaska."

The Alaska market makes up more than 25 percent of CSX Lines' business, according to Jim Keough, manager of business development and government affairs. CSX, which also serves Hawaii, Guam and Puerto Rico, first began trading with Alaska after the Good Friday earthquake of 1964. "We had planned to start sailing to Alaska that summer, but because of the earthquake, we set sail the following week," he explained. "Now we sail into Anchorage and Kodiak two times a week, and into Dutch Harbor one time a week." Keough estimates that the company ships between 1,600 and 2,400 TEUs per week.

The city of Anchorage is also dependent on the Port of Seattle, which provides barge and tug service to Anchorage as well as to different cities in Southeast Alaska. "You name it, we ship it," said Kent Christopher, general manager of Seaport Marketing, who estimates that more than 135,000 TEUs are transported between the Seattle harbor and Alaska each year. "Our business is split pretty evenly between Anchorage and Southeast, with about 8 percent of our total volume going to and from Alaska."

According to Christopher...