Crane and Rigging Exam Prep for Wrangell's Working Waterfront

The 6-Mile site and shipyard talk

The borough bought the 42-acre former mill site in 2022, intending to lease or sell it, and the borough manager has called it possibly the last unoccupied deep-water port site in Alaska. Officials want to shift the barge service yard there from its 1.9-acre spot downtown, easing congestion near the city dock. Wrangell received a federal Thriving Communities grant in 2023 to support planning.

A much bigger idea has also been discussed: a shipyard aimed at building and repairing federal vessels, with a preliminary estimate between $605 million and $726 million and talks involving JAG Marine Group. As of our last check, we found no confirmation of final funding or a construction start, so treat it as a proposal.

Whatever the final use, developing a waterfront site of that size would involve shoreline work, dock or bulkhead construction, and heavy steel placement, all of which need certified operators and qualified riggers. Local workers who are already certified would be well placed to bid onto those crews.

Haul-outs are crane-adjacent work

Wrangell Sentinel coverage noted haul-out requests at the Marine Service Center jumped 20 to 30 percent after Sitka's boatyard closed. Travel lifts are not mobile cranes, but the jobs around them often are: lifting engines, shafts and deck machinery in and out of hulls, moving blocking and stands, and loading parts onto trucks. Workers who rig those picks benefit from formal rigger training and a clear grasp of sling angles and hitch capacities.

The downtown barge yard is its own challenge. Containers and freight are moved on a small lot with trucks, forklifts and pedestrians close by, so swing paths, exclusion zones and clear communication carry as much weight as the lift itself.

Which course should come first?

• Rigger Level 1 if you hook, sling and land loads in the boatyard
• Mobile crane operator for dock building and future site development
• Service truck crane operator for marine mechanics moving engines and parts
• Signal person for lifts where the operator cannot see the landing

Rain, tide and river silt

Wrangell sits near the mouth of the Stikine River and gets the heavy rainfall typical of Southeast. Wet gravel yards and fills need good cribbing under outriggers, and tidal swings move barge decks during cargo work. Wind tends to pick up through the channels and shift direction around the island, so watching load drift and keeping tag lines manned is standard practice.

On the regulatory side, upland yards and construction answer to AKOSH, which adopted the federal Subpart CC rules; shipbuilding and repair, if a large yard opens, would bring federal OSHA's maritime standards into the picture as well.