Tidewater - 90 Years of Service, Pride & Integrity
Linking the Pacific Northwest with the World
In 1932, Lew Russell, Sr., became interested in the river transportation of industrial commodities and began renting steam-powered sternwheel ships to move customer products from port to port. Throughout the ensuing years Lew set the framework of Tidewater Barge Lines and ten years later, in 1942, the
Tidewater-Shaver Transportation Company was established. In 1960, Tidewater became a full-fledged, independent tug and barge transportation company under the name of Tidewater Barges Lines. In 1951, Ray Hickey got a job as a deck hand on a Tidewater tugboat. After spending his first four years on the Leland James, Ray transferred to the ocean division and became the chief engineer on the Tillamook, Tidewater's first ocean-going tugboat. In 1967, Ray became the operations manager of the ocean division and then was promoted to general manager in 1970, overseeing both ocean and river operations. He became president of Tidewater in 1977. From 1974 to 1996, the company would add tugboats Captain Bob, Defiance, Invader, Outlaw, Maverick, Tidewater, Sundial, the Chief and Hurricane, while adding over twenty grain and grain/petroleum combination barges, petroleum barges Glenn, Atlas, Pioneer, Explorer, and Prospector, as well as a number of container and deck barges. Tidewater purchased both Knappton's and Columbia Marine Lines' assets in 1984 and 1987, respectively, adding the boats Rebel and Challenger to the fleet, plus thirty grain barges and several general-use barges. Tidewater Terminal Company was established in the early 1950s to support the barge transportation business. Terminals at Vancouver WA, Umatilla OR, Pasco WA and Clarkston WA were built to receive and deliver bulk liquid products to and from barges. Beginning in the late 1970s additional Terminal facilities were constructed or operated by Tidewater Terminal Company at Clarkston WA, Pasco WA, Boardman OR and Vancouver WA to handle containerized cargo and wood chips. The Snake River Terminal was rebuilt in 1995, with a new automated truck rack, additional petroleum storage and upgraded pump and piping systems. In 1996, Ray Hickey sold Tidewater, now the largest inland tug and barge company west of the Mississippi, to an East Coast investment group. Wes Hickey served as president of Tidewater from 1996-1999. During this time the petroleum barge Tri-Cities Voyager was built. Stephen Frasher served as president from 1999-2003. Raymond Kiive served as president from 2003-2004. In 2005, members of Tidewater's management team in partnership with equity investor Endeavor Capital bought Tidewater. Dennis McVicker is president & CEO. During the period of 2005-2008, four new double-hulled petroleum barges were built: New Dawn, New Endeavor, New Vision and New Frontier. In 2008, Tidewater purchased Foss Maritime's upper river assets which consisted of 2 tugs, 7 grain barges and 13 bin and flat deck barges. Tidewater announces partnership with new equity investor, Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners in December 2012. June 2013, Bob Curcio joins Tidewater as its new President & CEO. In July 2014, Tidewater Environmental Service, Inc. acquired the assets of West Coast Marine Cleaning, Inc., a Vancouver-based marine and industrial cleaning services company. Tidewater awards contract to build 3 new tugboats to Vigor Fab in Portland. The Crown Point was delivered to Tidewater in April, 2015 (christened: June 27, 2015). The second new tug, Granite Point, was delivered in December 2015, and the final tug of the Point Class series, Ryan Point, was delivered in June 2016. The Granite Point and Ryan Point were christened on June 11, 2016. In September 2017, Tidewater acquired Canada-based Island Tug and Barge (islandtug.com) and ITB Subsea (itbsubsea.com). Island Tug is the West Coast's largest bulk transporter of refined petroleum products, and ITB Subsea ranks a one of the premier submarine cable layers in Canada. In January 2019, Upper Bay Infrastructure Partners acquired Tidewater Transportation and Terminals from Stonepeak. Tidewater launches a state-of-the-art, 24-hour ethanol unit train railcar unloading rack at their Snake River Terminal. Two new 65,000 barrel steel tanks were constructed to provide reliable operating storage in August 2019. In January 2020, Todd Busch joins Tidewater as its new President & CEO. In 2021, Tidewater added a new bio-blending system to its Umatilla, Oregon Terminal. The system includes two 40,000 gallon storage tanks, off-loading and blending pumps, and over 700 feet of heat traced piping and controls. This project puts our customers and Tidewater in a much better position to meet the growing demand for blending B-99.
