December 19, 2023
2023 was an extraordinary year at the Port of Seattle. Operationally, it was one of the best years in our history with new records for passenger service, new standards for customer service, and expanded opportunities for local businesses. This year was also the beginning of a new chapter including critical progress to expand essential services and protect the working waterfront for the next generation. We committed to and launched projects to build the port of the future, with an emphasis on sustainability, opportunity, and economic equity. The following photos are a quick snapshot of some of the work of the Port and our employees during this remarkable year.
Fishermen’s Terminal and Port Signage
March 6, 2023
Photographer and camera settings: Devlin Donnelly | Canon EOS M50 | 1/500| f/4.5 | ISO: 100 | 16mm
Photographer's note: The Port of Seattle is in the midst of a long-term redevelopment of Fishermen’s Terminal. This work will anchor the maritime industry in Seattle for now and in the future.
As part of this work, we were giving a tour to key stakeholders who are partnering with the Port in the construction of a new maritime business incubator hub, the Maritime Innovation Center. As we walked the docks, I noticed an interesting wooden pallet stenciled with the Port of Seattle. It was a fitting shot that encompassed the day, a juxtaposition of the new and the old meeting together to forge a path for the future of Fishermen’s Terminal and the overall maritime industry.
May the Fourth Be With You
May 4, 2023
Photographer and camera settings: Devlin Donnelly | Canon EOS M50 | 1/500| f/4.5 | ISO: 100 | 16mm
Photographer's note: On May the Fourth 2023, passengers and employees at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) were surprised by the forceful presence of some out of this world guests. Star Wars Washington, a dedicated alliance of Star Wars enthusiasts landed at SEA to share their love for the Star Wars universe and their amazing costumes.
May the Fourth, a play on the classic phrase from the films "May the Force be with you," has become the unofficial intergalactic holiday celebrating the Star Wars film franchise. Across the galaxy, from Tatooine to Tacoma, Seattle to Scarif fans share their love and SEA passengers were lucky enough to join in the fun.
These younglings were surprised and excited to be welcomed to SEA by Imperial Stormtrooper, and as Darth Vader once said, "this will be a day long remembered ...."
May the Fourth Be with You ... Always.
Duwamish River People’s Park Fish Monitoring
August 11, 2023
Photographer and camera settings: Claire Alexander | Canon EOS R5 | 1/250 | f/6.3 | ISO: 400 | 24-70mm
Photographer's note: The Duwamish River Peoples Park and Shoreline Habitat, the largest habitat restoration on the Duwamish River in a generation, opened to the public and to wildlife in 2022. Key aspects of the project included working with the community in South Park and ensuring public access to Seattle’s only river. Part of that commitment is monitoring and maintaining the progress of the habitat restoration site. To ensure this, the Port has worked with scientists from the University of Washington and environmental organizations to monitor the fish, plants, and small organisms at the site.
This photo was taken on the last day of monitoring of the site in 2023. As the tide was going out, the intertidal lagoon was netted off, allowing scientists to use hand buckets to capture and analyze the number and species of fish and invertebrates at the habitat site. The work is extremely detailed and exacting, taking over 6 hours to count the small fish and measuring them. The work lasted late into the evening, wrapping up around 11 p.m.
Despite the hard work, the people doing the project were some of the happiest I have met and were extremely excited to be a part of the process of healing the Duwamish River by benefiting the plants, animals, and greater community.
This photo captures a candid moment of a Port of Seattle college intern who paused to take in the beautiful scene after happily recounting their experiences with the environmental team. It was bittersweet, for this was the end of the project and their internship came to an end. But they remained excited with the possibility of continuing opportunities to work in habitat restoration.
Maritime Maintenance Plumbers Inspect Under the Pier 66 Docks
September 12, 2023
Photographer and camera settings: Claire Alexander | Canon EOS R5 | 1/320 | f/2.8 | ISO: 800 | 24-70mm
Photographer's note: The Port of Seattle has many amazing skilled workers that maintain and service the facilities that keep the Port in business. In this shot, an experienced plumber works with a Port Intern, training her on what to look for when performing an inspection. She previously had worked in Seattle in building construction and was very excited to get the opportunity to learn from skilled mentors, allowing her to find a future position, providing stability and upward mobility.
Asset preservation and maintenance at the Port’s waterfront facilities involves regular monitoring. This is an intricate process that requires piloting a boat and floating platform into tight spaces under the many docks and piers. On this day, the plumbers were surveying the health of the piping that provides Bell Harbor Cruise Terminal and the ships that call there with water, sewage, and fresh water hookups.
Carnival Luminosa Departs Seattle
September 15, 2023
Photographer and camera settings: Caleb Droge | Teslas Drones |Hasselblad Ld-20c | 1/320 | f2.8 | ISO: 190 | 24mm
The Carnival Luminosa steams out of Elliott Bay towards Alaska adventures on a beautiful September day. The Luminosa is just one of the 291 homeport ship calls in 2023. This year cruise ships carried a record 1.7 million revenue passengers from the Port of Seattle to sojourns in the last frontier.
Youth Career Launch Fire Safety Training
September 18, 2023
Photographer and camera settings: Claire Alexander | Canon EOS R5 | 1/320 | f/5 | ISO: 2000 | 24-70mm
Photographer's note: The Port of Seattle sponsors the two-year Youth Career Launch Program that connects youth between 16-25 with training opportunities in the maritime industry. The program is partially facilitated by local businesses and organizations that help the students get the certifications and experience they need to transition directly into maritime related jobs after they graduate after graduating from the program.
This photo was taken during a required boat fire safety course to train the students to correctly understand the techniques and equipment needed to extinguish different types of fires on boats. These students are putting out a fire in a simulated boat structure after two days of intensive training. As to be expected in such a drill, the students were a bit anxious but were able to successfully complete the task with instruction and supervision by of three seasoned firefighter trainers.
Fishermen’s Fall Festival Returns
September 30, 2023
Photographer and camera settings: Devlin Donnelly | Canon EOS M50 | 1/160| f/4.5 | ISO: 100 | 16mm
Photographer's note: Fishermen’s Fall Festival is a free event that raises funds for Seattle Fishermen’s Memorial, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing essential services to fishers and their families while honoring those lives lost at sea. An all-volunteer committee organizes this event that also educates the public about Fishermen’s Terminal and the North Pacific Fishing Fleet, and celebrates the commercial seafood industry. The festival returned to Fishermen’s Fall Terminal after a three-year hiatus with huge attendance and great fanfare.
At the Port of Seattle’s booth, these youngsters were having a great time and having a blast working on their coloring sheets. These depicting the Port’s new electric boat and driven by none other than Olive the Orca (the Port’s maritime mascot). This is the Port’s first electric boat and is part of the strategy to decarbonize the Seattle waterfront.
The Confectionery at SEA
October 3, 2023
Photographer and camera settings: Claire Alexander | Canon EOS R5 | 1/200 | f/4 | ISO: 3200 | 24-70mm
Photographer's note: Seattle-Tacoma International Airport runs an innovative kiosk program that gives small local businesses the opportunity to operate a kiosk for six, 12, and 18 month leases. It provides a chance to compete for contracts to businesses that normally wouldn’t have this opportunity and helps them learn how to operate a business at SEA Airport.
The Confectionery is a cute candy stand near concourse B that had regularly sold out of these plush pumpkins during the Halloween season. This was the cashier’s second day working and she enjoyed holding one and showing off the ultra-soft exterior of the cute pumpkin plushy.
Terminal 18 Cargo Operations
October 5, 2023
Photographer and camera settings: Devlin Donnelly | Canon EOS M50 | 1/640 | f/9 | ISO: 200 | 55-200mm
Photographer's note: At busy Terminal 18, operated by SSA Marine and managed by our partners in the Northwest Seaport Alliance, a top pick navigates the labyrinth of containers while moving cargo to and from the ships to the container yard eventually to waiting drayage trucks or rail cars. From there the cargo moves either to local destinations or onto the rail yards where they are destined for Midwest and East Coast warehouse and distribution centers.
What caught my eye in this shot was the riotous cacophony of texture, color, shape, and lines that you find on logistics and industrial sites. In particular, I found it fun to imagine the thoughts of the Space Needle as it looks down on the kinetic working waterfront.
Portrait of an Airport Security and Parking Employee at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
November 7, 2023
Photographer and camera settings: Claire Alexander| Canon EOS 5D Mark IV | 1/1000 | f/5 | ISO: 800 | 70-300mm
Photographer's note: This woman works for the Landside Parking Services group at SEA as an attendant and cashier. This was part of a photo shoot to show the dedication and hard work of our represented work force who work in the many labor unions at the Port.
An interesting fact is she loved hand drawing and designing signage for the parking booth she worked in which creates a welcoming personal touch to the customer check out. She was inspired by interacting with people that drove through and is exploring different internships with the Port of Seattle to develop her passion for design while being able to support her family. I love how she easily exudes a beautiful, strong, and self-possessed image of a young woman who was excited for her future.
