Military tests deployment using Mat-Su’s Port MacKenzie

It’s been a busy summer at Port MacKenzie, the Mat-Su Borough-owned cargo port on Knik Arm.

The port played an important part this summer in Arctic Edge, the military’s annual training and deployment exercise. Arctic Edge activities take place at several installations in the state but at Port MacKenzie the U.S. Army, Army Reserve and Navy demonstrated the loading of military equipment and movement by barge across Knik Arm to Anchorage.

About 180 military personnel were involved in the excercise, which spanned eight weeks from late July into August, according to Port MacKenzie director Dave Griffin. This was important because it demonstrates the military’s growing interest in Port MacKenzie for defense-relative activity, which will help the port continue to receive grants, mostly federal, to upgrade facilities.

Most recently the port was awarded a $600,000 federal grant to upgrade security, and this follows a $7.8 million grant awarded last year for a barge haul-out ramp. This will allow barges to be moved out of the water for annual maintenance at the port, Griffin said.

Port officials are now in the process of finalizing the grant with a goal of having construction under way next year, he said. In other improvements a “rough terrain” cargo crane is due for delivery this winter, which will give the port added capacity in moving cargo and unloading vessels at the dock.

It will be the first time Port MacKenzie will have a crane, which are needed for port facilities as they grow. Efforts are now underway to secure more grants for improvements, and the interest by the military in the port will help secure these.

It’s been a busy summer for barge operators using the port, mostly in support of contractors doing projects in western Alaska. However, overall revenues for the port will be down because there was no large ship using the facility this year to unload bulk commodities. In 2024 there two large vessel and one in 2023. So far one ship is scheduled for early 2026.

Meanwhile, there is continued interest in Port MacKenzie and lands at the port to support industrial activities. Vitus Energy has a land lease for a planned fuel terminal and bulk storage facility. A new development is a new application for a lease by Crowley Maritime, a major Alaska fuels company.

Port MacKenzie has 8,000 acres of borough-owned land to support new development, and several companies are exploring possible development. One is Nova Minerals, the Australian mining company exploring gold and antimony deposits west of Skwenta and near the terminus of the proposed West Susitna Access Projects, a 99-mile industrial road.

The company is interested in building an ore facility at the site to do preliminary processing of antimony ore that could be trucked from the mine. Antimony is a critical mineral needed to support a variety of industrial uses, including in defense industries.

The state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities is also interested in Port MacKenzie as a site for a Sustainable Aviation Fuels, or SAF, plant that could manufacture low-carbon aviation fuels with renewable feedstock.

In this case the likely feedstock is forest biomass, such as beetle-damaged spruce, that could come from the Mat-Su region. This project is at a very early stage in conceptual planning, and other sites for an SAF facility are also being considered.

The state transportation agency is doing early-stage development work at the request of major air carriers like Alaska Airlines and Atlas Air, a major international air cargo operator, who need access to low-carbon fuels to meet regulatory requirements in the European Union.

The feasibility of a plant is still being assessed. If the project moves further the state would solicit proposals from a private developer, state officials have said.