As we near the end of the year, I want to sincerely thank you for trusting us to handle your business serving the great State of Alaska. This has been a historic year for TOTE. We are on track to have the best safety year in our 48 years of operations. With your support we were able to complete the LNG commissioning of M/V North Star. Just this week we completed our 75th LNG bunkering with our partners at Puget LNG.
I appreciate all the dedication and support from the TOTE team, our customers, Puget LNG, USCG, ABS, and other key partners to get this project over the finish line. As we look ahead, we are excited to get back to a normalized twice-weekly sailing schedule, something that has been a major driver of our success as we head into our 49th year of service. We will also be celebrating TOTE’s 49th year in the 49th state in 2024. We look forward to celebrating this milestone with you. I also want to recognize Veterans Day (November 11th) for those who served and secured the freedoms that all of us enjoy.
I wish you and your family a very Happy and safe Thanksgiving!
Alex Hofeling
President, TOTE Maritime Alaska
For years, Alaska had been one of the last places that Antiques Roadshow had yet to visit. The television classic had been to Boston, Bismarck, and Boise, but the logistical challenges of transporting goods to and from Alaska were major obstacles for the TV producers who for years had tried to bring the show to the state. With the support of TOTE Maritime Alaska, though, the most-watched show on public television was finally able to bring two trailers with their production equipment to the Alaskan Native Heritage Center in July where 2,500 people gathered to have their family treasures appraised. Alaska Marketing and Community Relations Manager Lisa Simmons had this to say of the recent move: “The organizers at Alaska Public Media were so grateful to TOTE and our support moving the Antiques Roadshow. They told us they’d been trying to get the show in Alaska for over 11 years, and it wasn’t until TOTE came in as a partner that they could make it a reality. It can be such a challenge for these unique, non-profit projects to make the journey to Alaska and the community has been so grateful for TOTE’s support.” The Anchorage filming will air in three episodes in the first half of 2024 as part of the show’s 28th season.
OTE welcomed over sixty guests to the Tacoma terminal in August with a major celebration thanking customers for their support during the historic LNG conversion of the company’s two ORCA-class vessels. Customers, key partners, and public officials all spent a warm and sunny afternoon enjoying food and camaraderie while greeting the arrival of Midnight Sun to her berth on the Blaire Waterway. After a word of personal thanks from Alex Hofeling, president of TOTE Maritime Alaska, as well as messages from Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards and CEO of the Northwest Seaport Alliance John Wolfe, guests were able to board Midnight Sun for a tour of the vessel just returned from her voyage south from Anchorage.
Pictured from left to right: TOTE Maritime Alaska President Alex Hofeling, Account Executive Glemious Jackson-Chatters, City of Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards, and CEO and TOTE Group President Tim Nolan
Following the event, the celebratory atmosphere transformed back into its state as a working terminal with the vessel being fully discharged and re-loaded for herweekly journey north to serve our customers and the state of Alaska.
Hit Broadway show Hamilton took Anchorage by storm earlier this year when the musical made its debut at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts. Running from August 17 to September 10, the musical tells the story of the orphaned Alexander Hamilton, an eager and scrappy young man from a small island in the Caribbean who would be instrumental in the American Revolution and eventually, a Founding Father and the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. Over its run of30 shows the musical had a sizable impact in the Anchorage community with nearly 50,000 tickets sold. In addition, Broadway Alaska estimates the shows had an economic impact of nearly fifteen million dollars in the Anchorage region. TOTE Maritime Alaska was proud to partner with Broadway Alaska as the2023 season transportation sponsor to help make the show a reality in Anchorage. “We’ve been shipping to communities throughout Alaska since 1975 and have a long history of supporting organizations that make Alaska a great place to live" said Art Dahlin, vice president and Alaska general manager for TOTE. "We are honored to be part of setting the stage for Hamilton and a successful Broadway Alaska season.”
Several employees from the 909 office in Tacoma, Washington volunteered with Metro Parks Tacoma to clear invasive species from the waterfront earlier this year.
Pictured from left to right: Metro Parks Tacoma staff, Anissa Stella, Noelle Orvella,Lisa Simmons, Tina White, and Alex Ritsema
It was anything but a usual ship day at the Tacoma Vehicle Department when during a routine inspection a litter of kittens were discovered nestled aboard a customer vehicle. The Vehicle Department had been checking in vehicle carriers for the morning when longshore heard meowing coming from somewhere in the engine compartment of a vehicle that had just been dropped off. “The vehicle came in all the way from Denver. The whole team were able to take off the front guard of the vehicle to discover three baby kittens up in the engine compartment,” operations specialist Deanna Green shared. For the rest of the morning it was a scramble to help the baby kittens and the team did not let any obstacles stop them. The team starting first by calling The Humane Society, which they found didn’t open until 11:00. Local vets and animal shelters also weren't able to find any potential homes for the kittens initially. The Vehicle Department quickly found a blanket and repurposed a box of printer paper to put the three kittens in while terminal specialist Heather Green ran to the store to find kitten formula. “Two of the kittens weren’t even old enough to open their eyes yet, so we needed to find them food that they could eat,” said Deanna Green. The team thinks that the mother likely hid the kittens up there to protect the newborns. We're happy to share that two of the kittens were gladly taken in by a local farm rescue, and the third is now the newest member of a local family. A big thank you to everyone involved in helping take care of these kittens and find them homes!
