Unique Supply Lighter Launched By MARCO Seattle

Remote areas of Alaska gained a new supply link recently when the 80-foot lighter Kaktovik was launched by MARCO Seattle. The all-aluminum craft is the second of her type built by MARCO for C r o w l e y M a r i t i m e Corporation from a design by L.R. Gloston & Associates, Inc. of Seattle.

Roy Jurgensen, senior vice president and manager of Crowley's Northwest and Alaska Division, accepted the vessel on behalf of the owners. His wife, Mrs. Beth Jurgensen, served as sponsor and christened the vessel.

The Kaktovik is 80 feet long, with a beam of 24 feet and a depth of 5y2 feet. She will join her sister ship Koyuk, built by MARCO in 1966, in charter to Alaska-Puget-United Transportation Companies. One of their major tasks is to resupply DEW Line installations under a Department of Defense contract. Both craft also will be used commercially to supply cargo to remote Alaska towns.

The MARCO lighters are ideal for such operations, as their minimal draft and large carrying capacity enable them to handle heavy cargo in the region's shallow waters. Cargo is shuttled directly from oceangoing barges onto the beach, offloading via a bow ramp much like those on military landing craft. For transit from site to site, the lightweight vessels are readily carried aboard specially designed line-haul barges.

Propulsion for the Kaktovik is provided by three Detroit Diesel 6-71N engines, each rated at 174 continuous bhp, driving Coolidge stainless-steel propellers. Perkins diesels coupled with 20-kw generators provide auxiliary power, and a Hough-Wagner hydraulic s t e e r i n g s y s t em operates the three rudders.

For navigation in the far North, the Kaktovik is outfitted with a Sperry gyrocompass in addition to her radar, depth sounder, and other communication /navigation electronics equipment.

Winches aboard the vessel include a MARCO W2000 that operates the bow ramp and two Beebe 40 connector winches used to join the lighter with barges it may be towing. Other components include complete electrical installations by Harris Electric, and rubber fendering fore and aft by Schuyler Engineered Products, both of Seattle.

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First published in 1881 Maritime Reporter is the world's largest audited circulation publication serving the global maritime industry.