What goes up must come down -- and the crane that Horizon Lines has kept at the Unalaska Marine Center dock for more than 20 years is no exception.

Horizon has hired R.L. Moore Metal Recycling to remove the crane from its rails. Traffic was stopped on Ballyhoo Road around 4 p.m. on Thursday as the contractors made their second attempt in as many days.

Ron Moore says his company has performed similar jobs at ports in Virginia. But the Horizon crane presents a unique problem.

"You’ve got to be really careful with this," Moore says. "You’ve got a 150-foot light pole right there they just put in. There’s no crane around here that’s capable of reaching that high and hauling that kind of weight."

Moore has stripped the control house and about 100 tons of metal off Horizon's crane. But it's still too heavy for the anchor and pulley system his crews have devised.

Moore says his company will look for a bigger anchor before they try to tip the crane again on Tuesday. 

In the meantime, harbormaster John Days says he’s looking forward to having extra rail space at the dock.

It's been years since the old crane was in regular use. Once it’s gone, Days says more barges can be serviced at once with a larger crane Horizon added to the dock in 2007.