The best views of the Port of Tacoma are from the water, and on September 7 nearly 1,800 people got a close-up look at cargo operations during the Port’s annual boat tours.
A larger boat allowed for a 40 percent increase in attendance over last year.
The tours left from Foss Waterway Seaport and took passengers by the grain terminal on Schuster Parkway, past the Puyallup River and Sitcum Waterway, and into the Blair Waterway, where they saw ships at several marine cargo terminals managed by The Northwest Seaport Alliance.
“It's really informative. They do a lot more here than I knew they did, so it's very, very interesting,” said Bonnie Upham, who found a spot on the front deck of the boat.
Diana Olsen took the tour for the first time. “I loved it,” she said. “I think the main reason I did this is because I wanted to see the container ships because they’re so big.”
Each free tour aboard Argosy’s Sprit of Seattle lasted an hour and focused on Port of Tacoma history and operations, and how the Port works to protect the environment while growing economic opportunities.
The Port offered six tours throughout the day between 9:00am and 4:30pm.
“It’s fantastic, a lot of great information,” said Michel Rocchi, as he stood on the back of the boat.
The tours are so popular, the Port is taking steps to better accommodate the high demand.
After the free tickets were all claimed within four hours last year, the Port arranged a larger tour boat with three decks and a capacity of 325 passengers.
Even so, the free tickets were all claimed this year within 90 minutes when they became available online in July.
People without tickets were welcome in the standby line, and while boarding isn’t guaranteed for standby guests, this year the Port was able to accommodate everyone who arrived in advance of the tour they hoped to take.
“We heard a lot of great things over the last couple of years about this tour, so we were on the ball getting tickets as soon as they opened up,” said Noah Toomey.
In addition to seeing containerized cargo operations, passengers passed roll-on, roll-off auto carriers and learned about industrial activity and habitat restoration efforts in the Tideflats.
During a couple of the tours, passengers spotted porpoises jumping in Commencement Bay.
While on land, visitors were able to see the exhibits at Foss Waterway Seaport museum, walk through a cargo container with displays on global trade, take photos, and ask questions of Port staff.
“It was amazing, I learned so much about the Port. I never knew there was so much to it,” said passenger Leticia Enquist.
To accommodate more passengers on the larger boat, this year the Port added a shuttle bus that provided service to parking areas at several locations along the west side of the Foss Waterway.
The boat tours are one of the Port’s most popular community events of the year.
Subscribers to Pier Side, the Port’s monthly community newsletter, are notified first when free tickets become available. You can sign up for Pier Side here.
In addition to annual boat tours, the Port offers bus tours year-round.
The Port’s next big community event is Touch-a-Truck on Saturday, October 4 from 10am-2pm in the parking lot of the Port administration building.
Find out more details about the Port’s tours and events here.
