download original audio version

A new tug and barge line is preparing for its debut on the Yukon River this summer. 

Ruby Marine has a new tug, named the Yukon, which just passed its sea trials.  And two fuel and freight hauling barges – named the Melozi and the Novi – have been built in Louisiana, and are awaiting their final Coast Guard inspection.   

Matt Sweetsir is the co-owner or Ruby Marine.  He will be on the river this summer along with the tug and barges, and will look after the company’s shipyard at Nenana.   

Originally from Ruby, Sweetsir has been in the Alaska barge business since 1979, when he started working for a subsidiary of Yutana Barge Lines.  He worked his way up to be President and General Manager of Yutana from 1998 to 2005 – when Yutana and Yukon Fuel were bought by Crowley Maritime Corporation.   

Sweetsir says that despite Crowley’s size and resources, Ruby Marine can compete with them, at least when it comes to bulk fuel contracts, on equal footing.

Sweetsir:  "Ruby Marine and Crowley will be bidding directly against each other for the local Yukon River business, and for that level, it is essentially a level playing field.  Both Ruby and Crowley will be pulling fuel out of the refineries at North Pole and out of the Anchorage area, and will be transporting over the same shallow rivers with essentially the same equipment. Ruby Marine's advantage is of course will be that we are simply a smaller company, with less overhead, fewer problems that accompany a very large business like Crowley."   

Sweetsir does not think that a global player like Crowley perceives his company as much of a threat…and Ruby Marine is not determined to drive Crowley off of the Yukon River.   Instead, Sweetsir is hoping that the barge lines can coexist, with a relationship he describes as ‘responsibly competitive.’

Sweetsir:  "While we may compete for the gallons, it is all understood that we are working in a pretty demanding marine environment. And it doesn't serve the customers, the watershed, or our businesses to be a true cutthroat sort of business.  We are very much reliant on each company paying attention to safe operations and making sure that competition does not overrule common sense."

One of the advantages that Ruby Marine should have over Crowley, according to Sweetsir, is that Ruby Marine’s sailing schedule should allow for more stops at more locations along the river, and they will allow customers to ship smaller amounts of freight and fuel than Crowley currently permits.

But Ruby Marine wont be going up against Crowley on its own.  As Sweetsir explains, the company will be working in cooperation with Inland Barge Lines in the freight hauling side of the barge business.      

Sweetsir: "The relationship is complimentary, as opposed to competitive. Inland is solely dry cargo; they move freight. Ruby Marine is focused primarily on fuel sales, and large, oversized dry cargo.  Ruby Marine is refering customers with deck freight questions to Inland, and they [Inland] are referring deck freight that they cannot handle to Ruby [Marine]."

Each of Ruby Marine’s barges has the capacity to hold about 170 thousand gallons of fuel.  Sweetsir also notes that they have stronger decks than some of the older barges operating on the rivers, which will allow them to more easily handle the new generations of large construction equipment. 

The money to purchase the new tug and barges came from a series of banks- who Sweetsir says were eager to invest in a new barge line to compete with Crowley.  This willingness goes back to 2005, when Crowley bought Yukon Fuel and Yutana Barge Lines.

Sweetsir:  "Many of the banks and many of the lending institutions in the state, realized that the recent acquisition of most of the western Alaska marine business by one company lent itself to another competitor. It was less difficult than I thought to get banks to come behind the idea." 

Ruby Marine’s tug and barges are scheduled to enter the mouth of the Yukon around June First, or as soon as ice conditions allow.