KTVA News
By: Dave Leval

The Queen Elizabeth is impressive, much more than a floating hotel. It houses roughly 1,200 rooms that can accommodate close to 2,100 passengers. There are plenty of spiral staircases, a two-story library and a theater complete with box seating.

There's also a casino, but you can only play in international waters.

Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz came with gifts as he welcomed the Queen Elizabeth on its first voyage to Alaska. Not so for the ship's captain, Inger Klein Thorhauge — the first woman to command a vessel for cruise company Cunard Line.

"I was in Anchorage 15 years ago because I got the privilege to kind of look at Alaska for the Seabourn ships coming into Alaska for the first time," she said. "I traveled around in February, which is a little colder than it is now."

A spokesperson for the Queen Elizabeth said it's the first ship operated by Cunard Line to sail to Alaska in 20 years. It's also the first of 10 cruise ships scheduled to arrive in Anchorage this summer.

Read Full Story Here:
https://www.ktva.com/story/40490630/queen-elizabeth-sails-into-anchorage-on-maiden-voyage-to-alaska

Alaska Journal of Commerce
By: Elwood Brehmer

The Anchorage Assembly has brought in some familiar names in Alaska political and maritime circles to determine the best path forward on its troubled port modernization project.

The Assembly Enterprise and Utility Oversight Committee on April 18 approved a $45,000 contract to a partnership of the national project management firm Ascent PGM and the Anchorage consulting firm led by Mark Begich Northern Compass Group.

Ascent Alaska Vice President Roe Sturgulewski said he has worked on large port projects in Unalaska and Kodiak as well as other smaller marine infrastructure efforts across the state over the past 30 years.

Begich, a former U.S. senator and Anchorage mayor, noted during the April 18 committee meeting that he opposed the original port project management structure that put the U.S. Maritime Administration, or MARAD, in charge of the construction project because of the agency’s lack of experience in project management. MARAD’s management was approved by the Assembly and former Mayor George Wuerch shortly before Begich was sworn in as mayor in 2003, he said.

Read full story here:
http://www.alaskajournal.com/2019-04-24/consultant-team-including-begich-tapped-port-alaska-review

Alaska Journal of Commerce
By: Elwood Brehmer

The Anchorage Assembly is seeking help to determine once and for all if it really needs to spend roughly $1.9 billion to rebuild the city’s deteriorating port.

Assembly member Christopher Constant, who has started a reexamination of the Anchorage Port modernization program as co-chair of the Assembly’s Enterprise and Utility Oversight Committee, summed up reaction to the potential price of the port project at a March 21 Assembly committee meeting.

“We need to look closely to figure out if there’s cost savings. Sticker shock doesn’t even get near the level of shock,” Constant said of the $1.9 billion estimate to replace and upgrade the port’s cargo, petroleum, cement terminals and other facilities.

Read Full Story Here:
http://www.alaskajournal.com/2019-03-27/anchorage-assembly-seeks-fresh-look-port-cost-estimate

KTUU News
By Hank Davis

The Anchorage Assembly is seeking outside assistance to identify ways to cut down costs for the $1.9 billion Port Modernization Project.

The updated cost came out earlier this year, leaving city leaders looking for alternatives to avoid the massive price projection.

Chris Constant, who serves as a co-chair for the Assembly's Enterprise and Utility Oversight Committee, introduced a resolution to appropriate up to $100,000 for the purpose of procuring one or more contracts for independent analysis regarding the cost of the Port Modernization Project.

Read Full Story Here:
https://www.ktuu.com/content/news/Assembly-will-reconsider-options-for-19-billion-port-project-507925821.html

By: Milbank News Writer

As the Dunleavy administration prepares its first budget, the governor and his staff would be wise to review the history of state transportation megaprojects during the past 15 years. Realistically examining and canceling unaffordable projects would save the state millions of dollars on planning, as well as billions of dollars in construction costs.

Successive Alaska governors and legislatures have appropriated nearly $400 million in federal and state funds to transportation megaprojects, including the Knik Arm and Gravina bridges, the Juneau Access road and the Interior roads to Umiat and Nome. The projects’ need for billions of dollars in construction costs, however, ensured their demise.

Previous Republican governors have taken the lead in canceling these fiscally irresponsible projects. Gov. Sarah Palin canceled Ketchikan’s Gravina bridge, Gov. Sean Parnell canceled the road to Nome, and Gov. Bill Walker canceled the other bridge and road megaprojects.

Read Full Story Here:
https://milbankmonitor.com/cutting-unaffordable-megaprojects-could-save-alaska-millions-of-dollars/21/03/2019/

Anchorage Daily News
By: James Brooks

Even if it doesn’t have all the money in hand, the Municipality of Anchorage will begin construction on the first phase of the Port of Alaska replacement project next summer, Municipal Manager Bill Falsey told state lawmakers in a Thursday hearing of the Senate Finance Committee.

That first phase, which involves a new terminal for petroleum and cement deliveries, is estimated to cost about $223 million. According to figures presented to the Legislature by Falsey, the municipality is about $111 million short. The money on hand will cover work through summer 2020. When that money runs out, “we will have the options of how we can raise that cash,” Falsey told lawmakers. “For the remainder of the facilities that live at the Port of Anchorage, that is not a this-year project.”

Read Full Story Here:
https://www.adn.com/politics/alaska-legislature/2019/03/22/anchorage-port-plan-calls-for-construction-even-without-full-funding/

By Tim Bradner
Anchorage Press

The warning seems dire enough: Anchorage’s docks could start closing in about nine years due to corrosion and obsolescence, and possibly sooner if there is another big earthquake.

Corrosion in some of the 36-inch steel piles that support the dock is so bad that the steel wall thickness on some piles is down to less than one-eighth of an inch, said Steve Ribuffo, director at the port.

Luckily, the port’s piling seems to have withstood the Nov. 30 earthquake, but that is based on only preliminary inspections. A more complete examination will be done this spring when the ice is gone and there will be better light and tide conditions.

Read Full Story Here:
https://www.anchoragepress.com/news/progress-a-matter-of-great-importance/article_1b76b270-4aa2-11e9-a6f9-73506bb41f9d.html

By: Kirsten Swann, Alaska Public Media 

The entire project is estimated to cost more than $1.9 billion. Assemblyman Chris Constant, co-chair of the Assembly Enterprise and Utility Oversight Committee, said the shock of the latest cost estimate led to a moment of clarity: now, he said, lawmakers hoped an independent analysis could help assess their options moving forward.

“Our intent at this point is to look really closely at all of those parts, determine what’s really essential for moving forward, then come up with some rational cost analysis to to figure out what we’re going to build, who’s going to pay for it and when it’s going to happen,” Constant said.

Read Full Story Here:
https://www.alaskapublic.org/2019/03/19/anchorage-lawmakers-weigh-options-for-1-9b-port-modernization-project/

By: Elwood Brehmer
Alaska Journal of Commerce

Anchorage port customers on March 15 affirmed the possibility that self-funding a rebuild of the critical but badly corroded infrastructure they use might drive ultimately business away from the port and Anchorage in general.

Municipal and port officials are once again in the midst of an analysis to determine exactly is needed how to pay for it at what is arguably Alaska’s most critical piece of infrastructure.

The ongoing Anchorage Port Modernization Program would mostly replace the existing docks with a few additions. While scaled back from the failed port expansion project of the late 2000s, the current work is expected to cost upwards of $1.9 billion to complete, according to the project management firm CH2M, which was recently purchased by Jacobs Engineering Group.

Read Full Story Here:
http://www.alaskajournal.com/2019-03-18/users-say-fuel-tariff-hikes-would-impact-cargo-operations-airport#.XJF2AyhKjtV

Anchorage Daily News

The Anchorage Daily News asked candidates for the April 2 election to the Anchorage Assembly to answer a series of questions on issues facing those bodies. Many of the questions were suggested by readers. We’re publishing select responses daily. The answers were fact-checked when facts were cited and edited for spelling, grammar and writing style.

Read Full Story here:
https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/anchorage/2019/03/04/anchorage-assembly-candidate-qa-the-price-tag-for-the-port-of-alaska-project/