BUSINESS NEWS
12 • March 2021
Coast River Business Journal
WCT Marine fi nds niche in the middle at North Tongue Point
Story & Photo by Edward Stratton
Coast River Business Journal
estratton@crbizjournal.com
TRAVEL TRAILER/5TH WHEEL
Kevin Sealy, in charge of bidding at WCT Marine & Construction, shows off the sternwheelers the company is repairing for American Cruise Lines
at North Tongue Point.
“American loves working with Bob Dorn and
the guys at Tongue Point,” said Alexa Paolella, a
spokeswoman for American Cruise Lines. “It is a
great partnership and our four small riverboats will
remain there until we are able to operate. We con-
tinue to work diligently and respectfully with both
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Drive down U.S. Highway 30 east of Astoria and
you might see a growing number of ships parked
along the piers of North Tongue Point, a World War
II-era shipyard.
American Cruise Lines has homeported all four
ships in its Columbia River fl eet at North Tongue
Point, where shipwright WCT Marine & Construc-
tion has created a niche taking on small-to-mid-size
maintenance and supply jobs around the region.
Hyak Maritime, a boat builder and leaser, took on
Tongue Point from the Port of Astoria in 2017. By
that point, WCT had bought out former shipwright
J&H Boatworks, becoming one of the region’s few
remaining shipwrights.
“We’ve historically always maintained cruise
ships, doing emergency repairs to small fabrica-
tion projects,” said Willie Toristoja, a co-founder of
WCT.
Kevin Sealy, who handles bidding for WCT and
used to work for J&H, said American Cruise Lines
has long called on local shipwrights.
When American Cruise Lines launched a new
ship, the American Song, in the Columbia a year
ago, WCT built the ship an articulating gangway so
it could dock anywhere around the crowded 17th
Dock, where the Coast Guard also moors two cut-
ters. WCT is building another articulating gangway
for the American Harmony, the cruise company’s
second contemporary ship.
American Cruise Lines used to moor at Fred
Devine Diving and Salvage in Portland before repo-
sitioning to North Tongue Point in 2020. All four
ships — Queen of the West, American Pride, Amer-
ican Song and American Harmony — have since
moored in Astoria, turning one of the fi nger piers
into a dense corridor of fl oating staterooms.
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local and state offi cials in order to resume our per-
sonalized explorations throughout the region.”
While in port, WCT has been busy with vari-
ous maintenance projects, from decks and guard-
rails to replacing the large bearings that run the
sternwheelers.
“We did the handrails replacements. We fi xed
some causeways,” Sealy said. “Really anything they
need, they just let us know.”
Parked down the pier from the cruise ships is a
growing collection of boats WCT has acquired to
expand its suite of services, from tugs and a work-
boat to a landing craft it charters to carry people
and equipment to islands in the Columbia. Toristoja
and Sealy said WCT has found a niche in the short-
term projects too big for the average boatyard and
too small for large dry docks like Vigor Marine in
Portland.
WCT has transported thousands of plants for
Sound Native Plants, an ecological restoration
contractor working on Sand Island, a dredge spoil
deposit near Ilwaco, Washington. It regularly trans-
ports cleaning crews and equipment to and from
freighters anchored in the Columbia off of Astoria,
and tugs equipment for Bergerson Construction, a
local marine contractor based at North Tongue Point,
as far upriver as Lewiston, Idaho.
“A lot of times, we go after the projects that a lot
of the other groups aren’t going to want,” Sealy said.
While transporting crews and equipment helps
keep WCT diversifi ed and busy, the company’s mar-
quee service is building new boats. The company
recently fi nished a new tug for the Army Corps of
Engineers that will soon head up the Columbia to
Little Goose Dam in eastern Washington.
Like many other companies, WCT laid off most
of its staff during the coronavirus pandemic, going
from 45 at its peak to fewer than 10. The company is
back to around 26 employees and still hiring.
“We’re looking for experienced people, experi-
enced welders and painters,” Sealy said.
WCT is waiting until business recovers further
to spend a $573,000 grant it was awarded in April
from the U.S. Maritime Administration to build a
contained work tent on the tarmac at North Tongue
Point. The grant requires WCT to match $121,000
but will provide a covered area to work on tugs,
barges and commercial fi shing boats. Toristoja said
companies are starting to schedule more fabrication
work they put off during the pandemic.
“There’s a couple of sponsons and potential
lengthening projects coming up that should have hit
in 2020, but they never did,” Toristoja said. “The
(marine) community got hit just like everyone else,
so they’re not wanting to spend money if they don’t
have to.”