Beyond the Road

Marine shipping takes

Alaska goods global

By Rachael Kvapil

Far from everywhere yet halfway to anywhere, Alaska occupies a central position for international shipping. Overseas customers crave the state’s exports of seafood, metals, and crude oil, yet that represents a sliver of Alaska’s trade potential.

According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, Alaska exported $4.8 billion of Made-InAmerica Goods in 2018, making it the 40th largest state for exports that year. Although outranked by landlocked Colorado and Oklahoma, Alaska’s access to the ocean gives it other avenues for shipping business. Among the international shipping companies are those with direct routes—where only one vessel carries goods—and those shipping through indirect routes that require offloading onto additional vessels, also referred to as transshipping.

Jake Maenpa, Vice President of Sales for Alaska Marine Lines (AML), says that Alaska is strategically located as a key transshipment hub for businesses targeting Asian, European, and North American markets. AML moves containers full of Alaska seafood on barges from fisheries in Bristol Bay, Prince William Sound, Dutch Harbor, Southeast Alaska, and other coastal locations. Much of this seafood goes first to Seattle, Anchorage, or Dutch Harbor by barge, where it is transferred to additional ships that carry it to its final destination. Freight is also moved to trucks or planes by a process known as transloading.

AML and its parent company Lynden have multimodal transportation infrastructure, which plays a vital role in connecting exporters with the rest of the world. This is especially true in Alaska, where resources are primarily located in remote locations. Maenpa says companies often face the challenge of getting their products from point of origin to international gateway ports for distribution around the world.

“Relative to Alaska’s size, the road system is a tiny fraction of any other state,” says Maenpa. “Lynden’s business development has been driven by our customer’s needs to get beyond the road to reach their customers. By leveraging hubs and our multimodal capabilities, we can connect Alaska’s people and businesses seamlessly to each other and the world.”

AML’s barge services between Seattle and Alaska include weekly shipments to Southeast and Southcentral Alaska, with seasonal shipments to Western and Arctic Alaska. In total, the company services nearly 100 towns and villages in Alaska. In conjunction with the other Lynden companies, AML provides transportation and logistics solutions in Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, the Pacific Northwest, and around the world, so customers can optimize time and money when shipping to, from, or within Alaska.

“For many Alaskan products, the journey to global markets begins on an Alaska Marine Lines barge,” says Maenpa. “This is especially true for exports from the seafood and mining industries in Alaska. As part of the Lynden family of companies, we have a diverse transportation network, including the ability to ship by air, land, or sea, so customers can move seafood or mining products from remote locations to gateway ports for distribution to the United States and around the world.”

Transshipment is necessary when a single direct service to an overseas market is unavailable, or the distance between the port of origin and the cargo’s destination is too far. However, there are other reasons companies choose indirect shipping routes. For instance, a shipment might be less than a container load, or what logistics experts call LCL, meaning smaller shipments require consolidation in a different container. Also, when larger vessels cannot berth at smaller ports, transshipment is the only option. In some cases, transshipping also costs less, depending on the freight. Technological advances make transshipment much more efficient than in the past.

Direct International Routes

Saving time and avoiding delays are the prominent reasons most companies choose direct shipping routes. Since cargo isn’t offloaded until its final destination, there is no need to wait at an intermediate port for another vessel or additional time taken for the offloading process. Direct shipping also sidesteps the risk of missing the load schedule that can occur at transshipment ports. However, direct shipment can sometimes cost more because direct shipping is in high demand and, in some cases, there are additional tariffs and import duties.

Like AML and Lynden, Matson also provides multimodal transportation services on both a domestic and global scale. Their ocean shipping services are supported by the vast transportation network from their subsidiary, Matson Logistics. Multimodal transportation services in North America allow Matson Logistics to provide domestic and international rail intermodal service, long haul and regional highway brokerage, supply chain services, and less-thantruckload (LTL) transportation services. They also offer comprehensive third-party logistics services that include warehousing, distribution, LCL consolidation, and international freight forwarding.

“Matson ships carry a wide variety of goods and materials in containers, refrigerated units, and on flat racks,” says Vic Angoco, Matson Senior Vice President of Alaska. “Our sole focus is providing dependable arrivals and departures that customers can count on. We specialize in carrying the wide range of commodities needed to support economies that rely on ocean transportation to continually replenish their inventories and supplies.”

Angoco adds that Alaska services are supported by experienced operations professionals in all specialties, including transporting everything from fragile and perishable consumer goods to industrial machinery, oversized vehicles, and building materials.

Matson ships to the Pacific region, including its home state of Hawaii as well as Guam/Micronesia, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and many islands in the South Pacific. In Alaska, Matson provides twice-weekly container ship service from Tacoma to Anchorage and Kodiak and weekly service to Dutch Harbor. Matson’s Alaska–Asia Express service offers direct westbound service from Kodiak and Dutch Harbor to Ningbo and Shanghai, China or transfer at the Matson hub in Shanghai to thirty-seven other cities in Asia via Matson’s partner network. Matson also provides shipping from China to the United States with two expedited services, the China–Long Beach Express (CLX) and China–Long Beach Express Plus. Additionally, the CLX service includes a weekly stop at the Port of Naha at Okinawa, Japan. Angoco estimates that transit times from the US West Coast to Okinawa are up to four days faster than most companies. Additional routes to Japan include shipping cargo to mainland Japan via Matson’s network through Shanghai. Angoco says these two China shipping services have offered customers more than fifteen years of uninterrupted service.

“Our business model uses a closed system of owned and exclusive use assets to provide superior customerfocused service,” says Angoco. “Dedicated vessels, terminal facilities, and equipment allow us to dock, unload, reload, and sail our vessels on schedule with industry-leading speed and reliability.”

Angoco says an extensive fleet of owned chassis is readily available throughout their network and, coupled with tracking technology, enables

Matson to complete the industry’s fastest truck turn times and cargo availability upon arrival. Matson uses a diversified fleet that features purpose-built container ships, as well as combination container and roll-on, roll-off vessels and specially designed container barges. Matson’s vessels are US built, owned, and operated, which provides significant advantages in the integrated trade lanes of the company’s operations.

Domestic Shipping Still Matters

Whether shipping directly or indirectly, a single vehicle rarely suffices for the entire trip. Maenpa says mining companies utilize Lynden’s capabilities to transport concentrate from remote inland locations in Canada and Alaska to tidewater for global export. He says moving these products often requires an innovative mix of marine, air, and land options to provide the most efficient and effective transportation solution.

“It is critical for carriers to be able to adapt and react quickly,” says Maenpa. “Lynden champions a multimodal approach to ensure customers have maximum flexibility in their supply chain planning. Air freight can be used for time-sensitive situations, and when time is less of a factor, our barges can economically transport products and supplies. Our truck routes handle everything in between and bring products the final mile to the customer.”

And while international exports are a growing market for both Matson and AML, they still place a high value on domestic markets to and from Alaska.

“Marine transportation is the backbone of the modern global supply chain and is vital to the Pacific region we serve,” says Angoco. “In Alaska, the Port of Alaska supports an estimated $14 billion in economic activity across the state.”

Maenpa adds that Lynden has played a major role in improving logistics in Alaska by pioneering and providing dependable transportation to the state and expanding its service to remote and previously inaccessible points.

“From Ketchikan to Kaktovik, we have enhanced and improved logistics in Alaska,” says Maenpa, “and we consider this a major enticement for business development in the state.”