International Railroad Discussion > 2 Indonesian units at BNSF yard Tacoma WA

  Progress Rail in Tacoma WA is now done with the repairs and over hauls of the 2 Indonesian unit s that came in  Oct 2019.  they are loaded on flat cars at the BNSF yard in Tacoma WA  with the Tacoma Dome in the back round and ready for their journey back to Texas to be put on a ship for transport home.
 photo by Chris Marshall

 

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Why are they sending them to Texas to be loaded on a ship going to Indonesia?  Seems to me that it would be a much shorter trip and cost less in transportation if they were loaded aboard a ship in Tacoma and shipped across the Pacific to Indonesia!
 

Maybe it is a  "union thing"

OK let the flames begin.

tomstp Wrote:
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> Maybe it is a  "union thing"
>
> OK let the flames begin.

More than likely.

Or, there may be an existing dedicated ship service from Houston to Indonesia via Panama at a lower rate / tariff that's not available from Tacoma.

Greg Stadter
Phoenix, AZ

Shipping out of Houston is curious.  
Plugging in Seattle to Jakarta in
https://sea-distances.org
(They don't give a hotlink to copy, but it only takes a minute if you want to experiment)

I get Direct wayDistance7397 nautical milesVessel speed10 knots time30 days 20 hours​

Versus plugging in Houston to Jakarta in Way #1Distance11955 nautical miles VIA [b][color=#468847]Suez Canal[/color][/b]Vessel speed10 knots Time49 days 20 hours Way #2Distance12137 nautical miles VIA [b][color=#468847]Panama Canal[/color][/b]Vessel speed10 knots Time50 days 14 hours Way #3Distance12659 nautical miles VIA [b][color=#468847]Cape of Good Hope[/color][/b]Vessel speed10 knots Time52 days 18 hoursSo it's about the same running time via Suez or the Panama Canals.  And only a little longer going around the Cape of Good Hope, but don't need to pay a canal fee.  

But 20 days longer than going across the Pacific.  

Ted in OR

Houston gets a lot of calls by multipurpose ships that can load heavy and oversized cargo like locomotives. Whatever vessel loads the locomotives is likely to be on a regular service to East Asia.