Ketchikan tender float meets code, port says after charter operator's safety request

A charter operator asked for guardrails on Ketchikan's Tender Float 3 to keep passengers from stepping into the water. Port officials said no, the float meets code as-is, and vessel operators can use temporary barriers if they want them.

The Port and Harbors Advisory Board heard Tuesday that the port director contacted the Seattle engineers who designed the float. They found no code requirement for guardrails. The float sits 18 inches above the water. Building codes mandate guardrails when fall heights exceed 30 inches.

David Lethin, who operates the charter vessel Aleutian Ballad, raised the issue at the board's May meeting. He asked for a simple aluminum railing along the outboard edge, saying passengers disembarking from vessels face a safety risk. "I cannot imagine somebody, a scooter walker, going down there," Lethin told the board. "It only takes one tiny itty-bitty step and they're in that water."

Port officials said vessel operators are responsible for safely boarding passengers. The port director said operators could use "temporary measures such as cones, stanchions, removable barriers during loading and unloading" or "a short gangway ramp or boarding aid from their vessel to provide a more controlled transition for passengers."

The city's position: permanent guardrails around the float would impede other operators' use of the dock during vessel operations.

Craig Bisson, the port operations coordinator who has worked at the float for at least five years, told the port director he had not heard of anyone falling into the water and would have heard about it if such incidents had occurred.

The float at Berth 3 is used for tender operations and passenger access in Ketchikan's cruise ship port.