Maritime workers wonder: Will there be a next generation? For workers on Seattle's waterfront, the future is unknown and the change is rapid

Maritime workers wonder: Will there be a next generation? For workers on Seattle's waterfront, the future is unknown and the change is rapid.
Lizz Giordano / June 6, 2018

Seattle owes its existence to the waterfront. But, in a city looking past heavier industries to a future powered by tech and service work, maritime workers and business owners wonder how long they will remain a vibrant part of the cityscape.

For now, though, most of them remain very much part of Seattle or its nearby neighbors. Here are some of their stories in photos.

After a century in Seattle, seafood distributor Ocean Beauty moved its salmon processing plant to Renton earlier this year, and about 135 jobs went with it.

Worker at seafood distributor Ocean BeautySeattle’s ceaseless traffic drove the company from its plant on the south shore of the Lake Washington Ship Canal near the Ballard Bridge. With three trucks a day heading to Sea-Tac International Airport, the travel time was too great.

“Business was growing and the company needed to expand,” Ocean Beauty’s Tom Sunderland said. “We could have remodeled the [Seattle] location, but it would still take an hour to get to the airport.”

As the urban landscape transforms, Seattle’s maritime sector struggles to adapt on the land it already occupies. The sawmills and canneries that dotted Elliott Bay were swept away as the city evolved into a major gateway to Asia with a containerized shipping port. Now, shipyards – vital to maritime industry – continue their work even as condos and apartment towers rise near the waterfront industrial belts. One of the world’s largest ferry systems continues to connect cities separated by water, sharing Puget Sound with a stream of freighters and yachts.

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