Commerce keeps Borough ship-shape

July 24, 2007

By Russell Stigall/Frontiersman

PORT MACKENZIE - How much wood chip could a wood chip ship ship if a wood chip ship docked at Port MacKenzie?

The 640-foot Taiwanese bulk commodities ship Stellar Breeze found out Monday. Contracted by NPI, Port MacKenzie's anchor tenant, the ship will return its 30,000-pound load of wood chip to Taiwan.

Taiwan imported more than $100 billion in agriculture and industrial raw materials in 2004, according to the Taiwanese Government Information Office.

The ship's arrival signals Port Mac's expanding market in Asia. Taiwan is the third country now doing business at the Port, said Patty Sullivan, Mat-Su Borough public affairs director. To celebrate the ship's arrival the Mat-Su Borough hosted a ceremony Monday at Port MacKenzie's new ferry terminal. More than 50 people showed to the event, including Houston Chamber of Commerce and city council members, state officials and Ma-Su Borough Assembly members.

Part of the celebration centered on the crew of the Stellar Breeze and its captain, Edgar Plantinos.

Along with cake brought by the Borough, crewmembers enjoyed phone cards port director Marc Van Dongen bought to use for calls home after their two-week trip to the Knik Arm from Japan. Van Dongen also shared with the crew several of his freshly caught salmon.

&#8220It was much appreciated,” Sullivan said. &#8220They've been stuck on a ship.”

The Stellar Breeze was expected to leave early this morning and travel 17 days to get back to Taiwan, Sullivan said. The wood chips will be used to make paper and cake boxes, among other products.

Van Dongen spoke at the celebration about the advancements and expansion of the Borough's port. A 43-mile rail extension to Port MacKenzie will create business expansion at the port and elsewhere in the state, he said. With easier access to tidewater, bulk materials can be shipped cheaper, opening up markets such as Fairbanks limestone for cement.

Later this summer a second ship will offload the first imports at the port. These imports, super sacks of cement, each weigh 1.5 metric tons and are the first of 20,000 metric tons NPI plans to import each year.

Port MacKenzie's deep draft dock requires no dredging and can serve the world's largest ships, Van Dongen said. A conveyor loads bulk exports up to 2,000 tons per hour and runs more than a half-mile to the uplands. The port's 8,940 upland acres and 1,300 tideland acres is designed to allow room for commercial and industrial development.

NPI's Ron Arvin said the state's Taiwan-Alaska Trade and Investment Cooperation Council helped him find the best Taiwanese company with which to do business. By working with the council, Arvin found buyers of birch wood chips and sellers of cement.

Borough Mayor Curt Menard sees the potential in the Port.

&#8220The new business with Taiwan is a great example of local, state and the private sector working together,” Menard said. This new trade route to Taiwan will add revenue to the Port by contributing to wharfage and dockage fees.

Contact Russell Stigall at 352-2267 or russell.stigall@hotmail.com.