Erin Islzer gets ready to break a bottle of champagne on the new barge. /Credit: Annie Ropeik

A new barge that’ll make a weekly freight run to Akutan was christened last month at the city dock. KUCB’s Annie Ropeik has the story.

Evon Bereskin: [singing] "O master, preserve this oh ship, and give it a guardian angel..."

Father Evon Bereskin of Unalaska’s Holy Ascension Cathedral is blessing the new barge. It’s named the Iliuliuk Bay for the harbor where it’ll be based. The 250-foot vessel arrived from Portland in November.

[sound of group singing]"Amen..."

Harley is hoping the barge will provide safe passage for crew members on freight and supply trips to Akutan. It’s being leased by Horizon Lines. Harley’s Dutch Harbor manager Chris Iszler says it’s 10 feet wider than their old vessel. That makes it more stable.

Islzer: "It tows nice, straight. Good barge so far."

Iszler captains the Gyrfalcon, the tug that will tow the barge to and from Akutan. He says their old barge had been in service for 13 years and needed to be retired. The Iliuliuk Bay is a welcome replacement.

Islzer: "Something nice for us, we haven’t had a new piece of equipment for a while."

Bob Johnston is one of the crane operators who will be riding on the new barge, and he agreed.

Johnston: "You don’t feel the barge move near as much, the crane walks a lot better on it, I mean, it’s just ... it’s a great improvement."

And Johnston says it’s safer, too.

Johnston: "You can walk across, you don’t have to climb over wires to get on and off the barge, things like that. With the spray shield, it’ll keep a lot of the icing and stuff off the front of the containers when we’re in seas in the winter. Really it’ll just make it a lot nicer for everybody."

The barge is just a big flat surface to carry the freight containers. The crane sits at the back, and there’s a 12-foot-high barrier against spray at the front. The rest is open. So where does the crew go when the ship’s at sea?

Johnston: "Outside. [laughs] Yeah, we’re just outside."

But Johnston says the trip to Akutan only takes about 5 and a half hours. And the new barge is a little bit faster than their old one.

The barge made its first trip to Akutan before its christening. So there was only one thing left to make the new barge official -- and that’s a bottle of champagne. Chris Iszler’s wife Erin was responsible for breaking one against the side of the barge, right above its nameplate.

[sound of champagne bottle being hit against the side of the boat]

But the barge was a little too hearty.

Unidentified man: "Maybe try it on the pipe there."
Erin Islzer: "Anyone else want to try?" [laughter] 
Unidentified man: "Try it on the pipe, on the bottom of the pipe there."
[sound of bottle breaking and group cheering]

The champagne leaves a little scratch on the barge’s new paint job. Chris Iszler says there will be plenty more scratches where that came from.