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View Oil Sands Shipping Presentation - Port of Wilma click here(Large Download 4 meg)

Washington State Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development - News Flash

Washington heard some great news today!

The state was named the best state to start a business by U.S. News & World Report. The ranking is based on the high marks we received in the 2008 New State Economy Index and the Small Business Survival Index 2008. U.S. News & World Report cites Washington as being “first among the states in steps toward energy efficiency and using more alternative-energy sources” and notes the state’s strong manufacturing sector and low taxes.

Dargas provides Port of Wilma shortcut to the Alberta oil sands.

In July of 2008, Dargas Shipping Ltd. of Vancouver, B.C. shipped the first cargo consisting of a large pressure vessel from Vancouver, B.C. to Fort McMurray, in the Alberta oil sands, via the Columbia and Snake Rivers. The Columbia/Snake River provides the best all-year route for cargoes that cannot be transported through the mountains in British Columbia, Washington and Oregon. As a result of this first successful cargo, the oil sand industry is now looking at the Columbia/Snake and the Port of Wilma for over dimensional cargoes and overweight cargoes destined for the oil sands. The Port of Wilma is owned by the Port of Whitman County. TGM, the main terminal operator in the Port of Wilma, has recently concluded a contract through Dargas for the export of the world's third largest dragline, from the oil sands to Australia. The cargo is received from truck and rail in Wilma, processed and prepared for further shipment and barged to the Port of Vancouver, WA, where it will be loaded directly from barge to an ocean-going heavy lift vessel. The heaviest piece will be 132 MT.

Cargo originating from the Far East is discharged to barge in Vancouver, WA and barged 360 miles inland to the Port of Wilma, where at the TGM terminal the cargo will be loaded to truck or to railcar. Dargas provides turnkey cargo handling from the ship's hook in Vancouver, WA, or from the initial loading port in the Far East, to loading onto truck/railcar in the Port of Wilma, as well as delivery to the project site in Alberta.

The combined ocean and road route to Fort McMurray via Vancouver, WA and the Port of Wilma is shorter by 5,300 nautical miles plus 1,400 road miles compared to Houston, TX and shorter by 8,800 nautical miles plus 300 road miles compared to Duluth, MN. Current cargo restrictions through Wilma are 24 x 27 x 120ft and a cargo weight of 300,000 lbs.

Dargas works closely with the Port of Vancouver, WA which has a 140MT mobile harbour crane with a second crane arriving in early 2009, so that all project cargoes arriving for Dargas can be handled efficiently and without the need to use heavy lift ships.

For more information, please contact Dargas Shipping Ltd. at dargas@telus.net or (604) 926 6070 or the Port of Whitman County at 1-800-535-7678.

Port of Whitman Launches New Web Site

The Port of Whitman launched a new port website on November 20, 2008, the exact day the port was voted into being in 1958, celebrating its 50th anniversary as your Port on the Palouse. The new site has been re-designed to be more user friendly and more concise with updated content and a new clean look. The site focuses on available land and buildings, operations, projects and goals of the Port of Whitman as well as being a reference page for general information about the port industry.

Highlights of the re-design include updated Port site pages, a new ADO/SEWEDA (Authorized Development Organization) page, a telecommunication project page, a FAQ page, a Port history page, an Innovation Partnership Zone page and a port RFP (Request for Proposal) page. The port commission agendas may be found on the site as well as port commission minutes and the port comprehensive plan. The overall goal of the re-design was to create an easy web-based tool for companies wishing to relocate or grow in Whitman County and for local citizens looking for information about the port and its operations.

Designed by Mindshare Consulting of Spokane, WA, and built and managed by Total Dynamics of Pullman, WA, the site took 4 months of work in partnership with port staff to plan and build. Future additions to the site will include a Port 50th Anniversary slide show and streaming videos featuring the port and the small towns of Whitman County.