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Nome seeking support for port expansion
Officials talk to Legislature about the benefits of establishing a regional transportation hub that can support marine operations Alan Bailey Petroleum News
On April 16 officials from Nome talked to the Alaska House Committee on Arctic Policy, Economic Development and Tourism about plans for deepening and expanding the port of Nome. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is finalizing a new feasibility study on the port expansion. The report will go to Congress. The expansion project would need public and private funding, Nome Mayor Richard Beneville told the committee.
The proposed expansion involves deepening the port, to enable it to handle deep draft vessels. The existing port causeway would be extended 3,500 feet, with a new arm for protection from southerly winds and tides. Three new piers would allow people to disembark from ships visiting the port, Beneville said. There are also plans to expand the shore-based facilities.
Nome is situated on the south side of the Seward Peninsula, just south of the Bering Strait.
Transportation hub Beneville said that, in an era when the Arctic is opening up for marine transportation, Nome can act as the main transportation hub for Alaska’s west coast. The port has been becoming increasingly active over the past 30 or 40 years, with the number of vessels visiting the region increasing rapidly. The port is used by the U.S. Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It has become a stopping point for cruise ships that have started to traverse the Northwest Passage during the summer. Nome is a regional hub for communities on the Seward Peninsula, and is also a source of gravel used in projects farther north in the Arctic.
But the port cannot currently handle deep draft vessels. Cruise ships, for example, have to moor offshore and ferry passengers ashore in small vessels.
National security support Joy Baker, Nome port director, told the committee that one specific benefit of expanding the port would be the ability to support national security efforts through the resupply of national security cutters, icebreakers and navy vessels. In particular, resupply operations at Nome could eliminate the need for vessels to transit south to Dutch Harbor for resupply, thus enabling the vessels to spend more time on site, engaged in their missions. Nome can also play an important role in search and rescue missions, and in oil spill response. The port expansion could enable the port to act as port of refuge for large vessels during the severe storms that can impact the Bering Sea, Baker said.
Beneville also commented that, in addition to acting as a supply base, Nome could provide waste disposal services for ships transiting the region.
Optimum location And, having looked at some 13 locations for a deepwater Arctic port, the Corps of Engineers has identified Nome as the best location, he said.
Beneville emphasized that in a rapidly changing world, with the Arctic opening up, Nome can become a hub of local, Alaska, national and international importance. There are only two ways for ships to transit between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans in the northern hemisphere: through the Panama Canal and the Bering Strait, he said.
“Where we are is incredibly important. What we are is also important,” Beneville said.
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