Two changes for West Seattle’s Terminal 5

(NW Seaport Alliance photo: Matson Mahimahi docking at Terminal 5 in 2019)

Two changes ahead at Terminal 5 in West Seattle. Temporary tenant Matson will call there for the last time this week; it’s consolidating Hawaii operations with the Alaska operations it runs from the West Sitcum terminal in Tacoma starting August 28th. As a result, three of the cranes at T-5 will be moved there starting next week; the Northwest Seaport Alliance‘s announcement says, “The cranes will be raised with hydraulic jacks and the wheels/trucks rotated 90 degrees and loaded on a barge.” The remaining three will be dismantled and removed later this year; new cranes will arrive next year as the first expanded berth of the T-5 modernization project prepares to open.

HS August 19, 2020 (5:19 pm)

Goodbye waterfront dinosaurs. I love the cranes and still miss the old school ones they used to have close to downtown. Yes, I always imagine dinosaurs when I see them.

Pelicans August 19, 2020 (8:59 pm)

I always imagined the alien spaceships in War of the Worlds…

Denise August 19, 2020 (9:10 pm)

Love the cranes. Bye bye.

22blades August 20, 2020 (5:08 am)

There is a civic emergency with the High Span out. Why is the POS taxing the system by sticking with T5 instead of utilizing Pier 46, The cruise ship business is gone & that terminal idea is gone. An incredible waste of resources & negative impact in an emergency. The POS seems to be a no show in solving this problem.

wetone August 20, 2020 (11:20 am)

Agree 100% . But when your the largest subsidized port in US and in Seattle it’s spending gone wild. Why city allowed new T5 project to begin with never made since to me. Whether road or rail there is huge choke points to deal with. Rail bridge across Duwamish needs replaced that we will end up paying for, road structures like Spokane St viaduct to/from I-5 is falling apart and needs redone again. Spokane St viaduct should be getting redone now with bridge closure ………if not we will have another couple years of one lane closures leading to I-5…. First big rain it will be a real mess;) West Marginal is a mess, and even when bridge reopens will continue to be bad due to all the new apartments being built in WS. ZERO COMMON SENSE in Seattle these days by our city government………

BG August 20, 2020 (7:52 am)

I live in West Seattle and work for Matson out of Tacoma. You can bet that the West Seattle Bridge debacle and Seattle’s pro-business leadership are factors in this move.

YES2WS August 20, 2020 (1:46 pm)

I love the cranes too and refer to them as steel giraffes. Will miss them.

coleman@starfireanimation.com August 20, 2020 (1:54 pm)

I know this is crazy to think about in this day and time, but I think they should make that area into a giant farmers market. Add some cool shops with food vendors. Maybe even add a permanent carnival area like Oaks in Portland. There used to be a carnival in Luna Park back in the old days.