Horizon ship moves berth to allow for Whatcom Waterway dredging

The Horizon Fairbanks container ship that lives on Bellingham's waterfront has been moved one berth so crews can clean historic contamination underneath.

The cleanup is part of dredging work to remove mercury-laden sediment from Whatcom Waterway. American Construction Company of Tacoma started dredging in August 2015.

The ship will remain at the inner Bellingham Shipyard berth through March while that work takes place, said Mike Hogan, Port of Bellingham spokesman.

The C6 Class container ship has been moored at the terminal since 2007. Horizon Lines leases the space from the port for about $1,000 a day.

When active, the 1973-built ship hauled containers to Alaska. Horizon Lines keeps it idle because of its low fuel economy.

Samantha Wohlfeil

This story was originally published February 17, 2016 at 11:07 AM with the headline "Horizon ship moves berth to allow for Whatcom Waterway dredging."