More equipment added at Port MacKenzie as potential customers eye its capabilities

More equipment will be added at Port MacKenzie to expand its capability to handle heavy freight, port officials say.

A $900,000 federal grant approved last year will fund a heavy-lift crane. A new grant application being made this year would finance a mobile lift unit, like super forklift, if the grant is awarded.

The original plan for the crane was to have one with the ability to lift 75 tons, but a revision to that may expand its lift capability to 160 tons, according to Dave Griffen, director of port operations.

Port MacKenzie is owned and operated by the Matanuska-Susitna Borough and is on Knik Arm in Upper Cook Inlet.

In other developments, port officials say they should hear this fall on a $10 million federal grant to fund construction of a barge “haul out” facility. This is essentially a ramp allowing large barges to be hauled out of the water for winter storage.

Design and engineering work for the ramp have been completed and if the grant is awarded a contractor could be mobilized quickly for construction. “This project is more than shovel-ready,” Griffin said.

Barge storage through the winter is one of a number of new business possibilities being pursued for the port, which now serves summer barge traffic as well as deep-draft ocean cargo ships at least once a year.

Meanwhile, a contractor, Western Marine Construction of Seattle, is busy this summer installing heavy steel sleeves on pilings at the port to protect against corrosion.

Work started in June on the $10.5 million project, which is again financed by federal funds but required a 20% match by the borough.

There has not yet been a lot of corrosion on the steel pilings supporting the dock but over time there may be, Griffin said, and the sleeves, which are like heavy armor-plating, are being installed as a protection.

Thirty two of 64 steel piles supporting Port MacKenzie’s dock are being armor-protected in the project.

The borough needs to find new funding to finish the job, however. That is estimated to cost between $7 million and $8 million. That is less than the initial phase because the engineering work has been done and the permits acquired.

Port MacKenzie has seen increased use this year mostly by contractors. Griffin said there are a lot of prospective customers making visits to see the facility and be briefed on its capabilities.

Among those are contractors now coordinating cargo for the North Slope coming through Seward. Facilities there are becoming congested as North Slope oil work picks up. Griffin hopes some of the freight may spill over to Port MacKenzie,.

Meanwhile, one bit of new business in hand is use by the military to support major exercises planned for 2025. This is “Arctic Edge,” a joint forces exercise planned to test the logistics capabilities of the Army, Air Force and Navy.

The military will have sole use of Port MacKenzie in August, 2025 as a part of the exercise, which among other things will involve testing of loading and unloading equipment at the port.

There is also the prospect of Port MacKenzie becoming a staging area for equipment and materials for reconstruction of the main cargo docks at the Port of Anchorage, which is a short distance across Knik Arm from Port MacKenzie.

This could be underway in 2026 and could involve use of Port MacKenzie and its adjacent uplands for several years.

Finally, the announcement last week that a Texas-based company is in discussions with Southcentral Alaska utilities on facilities to import liquefied natural gas, or LNG, has put Port MacKenzie on the radar screen as a possible location for a place where liquefied gas could be unloaded.

Enstar Natural Gas Co., which is coordinating the planning for LNG imports, has listed Port MacKenzie as one of two options for a point to unload liquified gas. The other is Nikiski, on the Kenai Peninsula.

Enstar has applied to state regulators for a permit to build a gas pipeline from the port to connect with a nearby Enstar pipeline, and the permit has been approved.

Although Port MacKenzie is in the running for this it is still felt that Nikiski may have the edge, sources close to the project say. That’s because twice-daily 30-foot tide surges on Upper Cook Inlet would pose special challenges for a floating LNG storage and regasification vessel which could be used.

Although the tides are more extreme on the upper Inlet they also pose challenges at Nikiski, however. Borough officials hope that even in Nikiski gets the project Port MacKenzie might become an alternative to add a back-up capability.

The LNG import plan would see liquefied has brought in on a seasonal basis and regasified and stored for winter use to supplement production from existing Cook Inlet fields, which are declining.