The company I work for, traditionally enjoys an all-hands lunch every Friday.   During the nice weather month in the Puget Sound, we’ll often be found along the Tacoma waterfront, dining on the deck of a few local establishments.

Not long after joining the company, I noticed a ship that would arrive, during lunch, on any day we were able to take in the good weather.   What is striking about the ship, was the consistency of it’s arrival within an hour or so, as well as the polished look of the bow, while the rest of the ship seems rather, worn.

Last Friday I took a photo of the ship, so that I could zoom in on the ship’s name and learn more about her.   Here is what I found:

M.V. North Star – Totem Ocean Container Express, Inc.

The ship is an Orca class Ro-Ro named the ‘M.V. North Star’

Totem Ocean Trailer Express’ $155 million North Star is one of two new TOTE ships. Each can carry 600 40-foot trailers and 220 automobiles, almost double the capacity of TOTE’s older vessels.

http://www.nassco.com/cdc/tote_galleryNS.html
‘Ro-Ro’, meaning  Roll-On, Roll-Off ship:

The ship is not a car carrier, but a trailer carrier.  Container Trailers are rolled onto and off the ship, so loading does not require cranes, instead using multiple ramps to extract trailer cargo.

Here is a photo of the M.V. North Star’s sister ship ‘Midnight Sun’

North Star press release:

The Second of TOTE’s Two New Ships Delivered in Tacoma

TACOMA, WASHINGTON — Totem Ocean Trailer Express greeted the newest vessel to enter the Alaska trade, the M. V. North Star, the morning of August 28, 2003. Her arrival in the Port of Tacoma marks the conclusion of a many-year new ship building and reinvestment program that will benefit the Puget Sound and Alaska for decades to come.

Her sister ship, the M. V. Midnight Sun, entered Alaska service in April this year. Both ships are the first two members of the Orca Class, specifically designed for the rigors of the Alaska trade and built to protect the pristine environments of Washington and Alaska waters.

More photos:
http://www.totemocean.com/np-photogallery.htm

Studying the shipping schedule, the North Star arrives in Tacoma every Friday afternoon, unloads, realoads then heads back to Anchorage early the following morning.  Here is the July 2009 schedule:

*NS — North Star
*MS — Midnight Sun
**Vehicle hours: 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. M-F
***To be determined by Anchorage Operations