Freight ramp sinks temporarily
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Courtesy of Haines Borough.
On June 17, the Alaska Marine Lines freight ramp temporarily sank due to an air tank issue. The company is still investigating the underlying cause. The ramp was operational again in time to receive a grocery delivery on Monday.
The Alaska Marine Lines (AML) freight ramp is back in operation after being temporarily out of commission last Thursday.
"We mobilized our barge up there to address the situation and fix it. We were successful in righting it, and obviously the barge came in Monday and delivered groceries and we didn't have a problem," Alaska Marine Lines representative Adam Anderson said at Tuesday's Haines Borough Assembly meeting.
The ramp issue was brought to borough attention after a barge leaving the facility Thursday morning, June 17, contacted AML, harbormaster Shawn Bell said in an interview Monday.
AML is still looking at what caused damage to the ramp tank, which ultimately led the water-side portion of the facility to sink.
"We have that under investigation right now, figuring out what exactly occured," Anderson said.
A barge scheduled for later in the week will be diverted while the company works to fix other issues discovered with the tank. "We anticipate that will take two days to do. This week will be prepwork. Next week will be welding," Anderson said.
Construction of the freight ramp was completed last year after AML and the borough reached an agreement in which AML would construct a roll-on, roll-off facility on leased borough land in exchange for reduced payments to the borough and preferential berthing rights. Construction of the facility ensured Haines' supply chain would remain intact after the Lutak Dock face closed.
