Boat Lift Arrives in New Home Port

By Lee Revis
Editor, Valdez Star

PLAQUEMINES PARISH- “It made it here,” a happy Lonnie Grecco said after months of hard work by folks from all over the country labored, often for free, to move the Marine Travelift donated by the City of Valdez to people of Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana.
The giant boat lift finally arrived at its new home port on the Gulf Coast last week and reassembly began Tuesday morning.

“We really appreciate the Travelift,” said Sal Ferrel, who works in the offices of the Parish. “We’re actually going to have a dedication,” she said.

The boat lift, which was surplused by the City of Valdez last summer and sat idle in the parking lot of the small boat harbor, was a labor of love for some.

“I thought it was a good project,” said Valdez Harbor Master Alan Sorum, who made the first request for the donation to the Valdez City Council last November.

Sorum had heard that the Parish, made up of several fishing communities, was in dire need of a boat lift.

The area was one of many areas hard hit by Hurricanes Rita and Katrina last summer. By the time fall arrived, the parish was still struggling to clear boats out of its streets and get them back into the water where they belonged. The local economy relies heavily on the fishing industry and most of the area’s fleet was still out of the water.

Sorum first heard of the desperate need for a boat lift from the Pacific Coast Congress of Harbor Masters and Port Managers, PCC for short, a professional trade organization.

The Alaska Fishing Industry Relief Mission, Inc, (AFIRM) a consortium whose membership and advisors is made up of powerful group of insiders in the government and the shipping and fishing industry, including Senator Lisa Murkowski, were working to help in the relief efforts for the southern fishing industry, and the group took an immediate interest in the surplus lift in Valdez.

Tags: Valdez Alaska Plaquemines Louisiana Travelift Katrina