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CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / crussell@staradvertiser.com
Sause Bros. President Dale Sause and his wife, Heidi, in front of Columbia at Honolulu Harbor's Pier 20.
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Tug-and-barge ocean transportation firm Sause Bros. held a ceremony Thursday evening celebrating the arrival in Hawaii of a new, more efficient barge named Columbia which will make trips between Rainier, Ore., and Kalaeloa Harbor.
Construction of the $20 million Columbia began in March 2012 and was launched in June in Portland, Ore. The barge’s maiden voyage began Nov. 27 from Rainier and was completed Tuesday at Kalaeloa.
Sause said the Columbia is its second bigger, more efficient, modern barge that will reduce fuel consumption for twice-a-month trips between Hawaii and Oregon.
The company’s other modern barge is the Kamakani, which also cost $20 million and was launched in 2008.
"Sause Bros. is thrilled to introduce Columbia to the Hawaii market because it gives us the opportunity to better serve our customers both here and in Oregon," Jeff Browning, general manager for the company’s Columbia River Service division, said in a statement. "We have spent the last six to seven years doing research and development with (barge builder) Gunderson Marine to create the most technically advanced barges. That work has been realized with Columbia and Kamakani."