A boat whose bright blue hull had become a landmark along Tacoma's Thea Foss Waterway over the last few months has bid goodbye to Tacoma and the shipyard that built it.
The Northern Leader, the largest commercial fishing boat built in the Northwest in the last two decades, left its moorings at J.M. Martinac Shipbuilding Co. on Sunday headed to Seattle for some brief final outfitting. The vessel, 184 feet long and 42 feet wide, will then sail to Alaska, where it will begin its working life.
The vessel's departure was marked by the raising of the lift span of the Murray Morgan Bridge. The 100-year-old bridge was returned to service last winter after years of closure and a $52-million overhaul. Most vessels moored south of the lift bridge are not tall enough to require the bridge's center span to be lifted.
Joe Martinac, the shipyard's president, said the completion of the $25-million Northern Leader leaves the shipyard temporarily without any major active shipbuilding projects. Over the last several years, Martinac has built a series of tugboats for the Navy and private owners. The Northern Leader was the first fishing vessel the yard has built in decades.
Martinac was one of the nation's largest builders of tuna boats in the last decades of the 20th century.
The company president said the yard has had discussions with other fishing companies about building new vessels, but none has yet made a commitment. The Northern Leader is owned by Alaskan Leader Fisheries LLC. That limited liability corporation is owned jointly by the Alaska Leader Group of Lynden and by the Bristol Bay Economic Development Corp. of Dillingham, Alaska. Kodiak, Alaska, will serve as the boat's home port.
The vessel features innovations designed to make it environment friendly and cost-efficient, said the boat's designers.
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