Despite snow, Port of Olympia still mooved ‘em on out
Despite near record-breaking levels of snow, the Port of Olympia pushed the snow aside this week to load nearly 1,600 dairy cattle aboard the Devon Express. That ship sailed Wednesday evening, a port spokeswoman said.
The Devon Express, which is part of the Livestock Express shipping line, arrived at the marine terminal late Sunday. Bedding and feed were loaded Monday, then 1,575 head of dairy cattle were loaded on Tuesday, Jennie Foglia-Jones said.
Bulk feed was loaded Wednesday before the ship left for Vietnam, she said.
Port officials have said that Vietnam needs the cows as part of a country goal to reduce childhood malnourishment by providing one glass of milk per child per day.
Cattle has become a consistent cargo for the marine terminal. The port is best known for shipping raw Weyerhaeuser logs to Japan, but it’s also the fifth shipment of cattle since 2014.
About 1,800 cattle were loaded at the port in September 2018. Prior to that, two loads of cattle totaling about 3,600 head passed through the port in 2017, and about 1,400 were loaded in 2014.
About 18 inches of snow fell in the Olympia area between Friday and Monday, according to the National Weather Service. Although close to a record, 23 inches fell over a four-day period in January 1972.
This story was originally published February 14, 2019 at 7:00 AM.
