Q. What is the official name of your company?
A. Foss Maritime Company
Q. Is your firm a subsidiary or affiliate of other companies? If so, please name those firms and their relationship to your company.
A. Foss Maritime Company is wholly owned by Saltchuk Resources, a privately owned family investment company formed in 1982 and based in the Pacific Northwest. The independent subsidiaries of Foss include: AmNav, Cook Inlet Tug & Barge and Young Brothers.
Q. What do you most want people to know about
your company?
A. Foss Maritime delivers marine services without equal across the globe. From local harbor jobs to complex projects in the world’s harshest environments, Foss has the capabilities, resources and expertise to efficiently manage our customers’ toughest challenges. Our two full-service shipyards offer naval architecture design services, marine engineering, new construction, retrofitting and repairs. We are committed to meeting the unique needs of our customers, to the safety of our employees and to safeguarding the environment.
Q. Where is your company located?
A. Our corporate office is based in Seattle, Washington and our two shipyards are in Seattle and Rainier, Oregon, respectively. We also have offices in Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon, California, and the U.S. Gulf.
Q. What year was the company founded and by whom?
A. Foss was founded in 1889 by Thea and Andrew Foss in Tacoma, Washington.
Q. What is your company’s primary business activity?
A. Foss owns and operates one of the nation’s largest coastal tug and barge fleets, offering a broad range of green- and blue-water marine services. Foss serves the world’s largest oil and gas companies, international shipping companies and a variety of governmental and nongovernmental agencies. In addition, Foss’ two Pacific Northwest shipyards provide naval architecture, marine engineering services, repairs and maintenance.
Q. Are there important projects the company is currently a part of or has done recently?
A. A Second Sealift to Point Thomson:
Foss successfully completed a second sealift to Point Thomson in the summer of 2015. Four tugs, including the Michele Foss on her maiden voyage, towed four barges carrying oil field modules from Ulsan, South Korea 2,300 miles to the Alaskan petroleum field. Point Thomson had previously been thought too remote to develop, but Foss was able to meet the logistical challenge a second year, with the Michele leading the way. Operating in extreme conditions of first year ice a meter thick, Foss safely pioneered a new route across the North Slope.
Arctic Offshore Support:
Operating in the harsh Arctic environment, Foss offered a variety of support services to Shell Upstream Americas’ historical offshore exploration in Alaskan waters. Foss transported high-risk cargoes safely, and without incident, through a pristine, ecologically sensitive area. In addition, Foss supported Shell’s exploratory drilling in the Chukchi Sea by leasing a marine terminal from the Port of Seattle where Shell marshaled a drilling rig and other assets. Foss manned and operated a barge carrying emergency spill-containment equipment, and provided additional logistics and tug support.
An Ongoing Commitment to Alaska:
Two other major projects rounded out Foss’ work in Alaska in 2015. In Cook Inlet, Foss assisted with the installation of an offshore natural gas production platform and helped lay a 16-mile pipeline that will carry the gas to a processing plant on shore. And, further north, four Foss tugs and two barges completed the company’s 26th season lightering lead and zinc ore to bulk carriers, working with Teck Resources at the Red Dog Mine in the Arctic.
New Construction:
In addition to the launch of the Michele Foss, and the beginning of construction of two more Arctic Class Tugs at Foss’ Rainier shipyard, the Foss Seattle shipyard also saw the launch of the first of two Fireboats built for the Port of Long Beach.
Q. How many employees does your company have?
A. Over 1,700
Q. Describe the equipment your company uses and are there any new equipment purchases planned?
A. Our Fleet:
Foss has one of the largest fleets of tugs and barges. We engineered and built the world’s first hybrid tug and hybrid tug conversion, and we continue to expand our Arctic Class fleet and will launch the second of three new Arctic Class tugs in 2016.
Our Shipyards:
We have extensive capabilities at our Seattle yard, including the Foss 300 floating derrick crane, which provides heavy lift capability to 75 short tons. The Foss dry docks are the most completely equipped of their size on Puget Sound. Our floating docks handle up to 2,000-tons, providing platforms for new construction, underbody maintenance, hull repairs, shaft repairs, and modifications.
Our Rainier shipyard features two marine railways rated at 640 ST and 120 ST, with a 90-ton crane and a 40-ton crane on site and have built both steel and aluminum-hulled boats. We expanded our footprint in 2014 and are at various stages of construction of our second and third new Arctic Class tugs.
Q. Is your company expanding any of its operations or locations?
A. We are investing in and expanding on our assets that are designed specifically for the terrain, environmental concerns and needs of Alaskan operations. In addition, we continue to hone and add to our shipyards and are expanding our operations in the U.S. Gulf.
Q. Is the company changing any of its services or products?
A. We will be opening a consolidated customer service center in Oregon in April 2016. The company’s existing Portland office will be renovated and modernized to incorporate the best available customer service technologies, including a state-of-the-art telephone system, heightened cyber security, and enhanced dispatching and vessel tracking capabilities.
Q. What is your company’s main strength or its edge over the competition?
A. Foss has extensive experience working in harsh environments, and in remote areas with limited infrastructure, and we are committed to protecting the environment and to the highest safety standards. We have a long history in Alaskan waters. We have formed a partnership with the energy services arm of the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC) and are continuing to expand on our assets. Foss is also invested in furthering green technologies and pushing towards having the highest safety standards in the industry, with a commitment to zero incidents.
Q. What are the biggest obstacles to completing work your company undertakes?
A. Much of our work takes place in extreme environments or in remote locations, such as delivering aid to Haiti, developing the world’s first open lighterage north of the Arctic Circle, or delivering a 190-ton turbine up a never-before commercially traversed section of the Columbia River. With our global network and experience we are often brought on to find solutions to operational challenges that others may not be able to deliver on.
Q. What do you see as your company’s biggest challenge in the next five years?
A. Foss has built a reputation as an industry leader and to maintain that position we must constantly be ahead of the curve: finding new and innovative solutions, and having the infrastructure in place to take on any challenge.
Q. What is the average length of time employee’s work for the company?
A. Currently, the average length of employment is 12+ years. We have 328 employees who have been with us for more than 20 years, and the longest tenure is 44 years.
Q. What is your company’s safety record? What steps does the company take to ensure a safe work environment?
A. Foss’ safety program leads the industry with a company-wide zero incident safety culture. Our safety program is built on a sophisticated behavior-based focus, with robust health, safety and compliance programs. We provide frequent reports on Job Safety Analyses, Near Misses and Safety Observations that are being reported each day. We have multiple committees that provide support, and we continually review and discuss notable near misses and observations, safety alerts and safety bulletins.
Q. What is the address of your company’s Web site?
A. www.foss.com
