Unalaska and Dutch Harbor: Crane Certification Prep for the Busiest Fishing Port

Williwaws and the crane that blew over

The wind that defines work here has its own name, the williwaw: a sudden, violent gust that pours down off the mountains toward the water, sometimes from more than one direction at once. The Aleutian low-pressure systems that feed them earned the islands the nickname cradle of storms. In March 2011 the weather service recorded a 114 mph gust at the local station, and wind blew cargo containers over and tore pieces off roofs.

Cranes are not immune. A dockside container crane at Dutch Harbor collapsed in high winds in December 2009. Its replacement, a crane brought from Taiwan in 2010, was re-engineered, including a narrower gauge and a strengthened structure, to suit local conditions. For any operator here, knowing the manufacturer's wind limits, how wind acts on a load's sail area, and when to lay the boom down is not exam trivia. It's daily judgment.

A port with many owners

Five major shore-based processors operate in town. UniSea, part of Nissui, began in 1974 on a converted World War II Liberty ship. Westward Seafoods, owned by Maruha Nichiro, runs its main pollock plant on Captains Bay. Trident, Alyeska Seafoods and Kloosterboer round out the list. Matson is the only U.S. containership operator calling here, with weekly service and an Alaska-Asia Express route launched in 2020 to carry seafood west.

Those operations add up to constant lifting: product into containers and reefers, machinery into plants, nets and gear onto boats, and fuel equipment at the docks.

Landings have been climbing, up from 613.5 million pounds in 2022, and the city counts 2023 as its 26th straight year at the top by volume. Value is another story: in 2019 Dutch Harbor ranked third by dollars, behind New Bedford and Naknek, because pollock is a lower-priced fish.

Shore rules versus dock rules

Unalaska is a place where jurisdiction really varies by the job. Shore-based processing plants and upland construction are generally AKOSH territory, under the federal crane standard Alaska has adopted. Container handling and longshoring at the terminal, and work aboard vessels or floating processors, generally fall to federal OSHA under its maritime standards. Ask before you assume.

Alaska layers no state license over any of this; accredited certification and your employer's documented evaluation are what count. Details are in our requirements guide.

Courses and testing

Written exams can be taken through online proctoring from the island. Practical exams require a crane at an approved test site, which for most people means flying to Anchorage; plan it around the pollock seasons.

• Mobile crane operator for yard, plant and construction cranes.
• Rigger Level II for complex dock and plant equipment lifts.
• Signal person for blind picks over a dock edge or into a hold.
• Mobile crane recertification for operators renewing their five-year card.