Grain ship at Continental Grain. Flying under the Indian flag, the "Abul Kalam Azad" arrived in Tacoma in August of 1975 to load 105,000 long tons of wheat, believed to be the largest single shipment of grain ever loaded by a single company at a U.S. port. The Continental Grain Co. elevator, with its off-shore pier, was completed earlier in the spring. Its 60-ton, 169-foot long steel gallery could whisk up to 80,000 bushels (about 2000 tons) of grain per hour from the elevator to the ship. At $19,000,000, the grain elevator was the single largest project ever undertaken by the Port of Tacoma. It was built along Bayside Dr. (now Schuster Parkway) at the old Shaffer dock site. Continental would operate it on a 30-year lease with the Port. (TNT 10-25-74, B-7-article on Continental Grain Co. elevator). Color photograph ordered by Norton-Lilly Co., Seattle. (Gordon Newell, "Maritime Events of 1975"-article on ship)
Cargo ships--Indian; Shipping--Tacoma--1970-1980; Aerial photographs; Aerial views; Continental Grain Co. (Tacoma); Grain elevators--Tacoma--1970-1980;