Port has potential to leave Mat-Su Borough high and dry

Who paid for the “great experiment” to see if a ship could use Port MacKenzie to load coal?

Three extra days for travel and loading at an average cost of $50,000 per day for the ships, plus 50 trucks to load and haul the coal 60 miles from Wishbone mines. Then there’s the cost of a ship’s pilot to use the Inlet, cost of moorage and cost to pay NPI for loading of the coal.

Since this was done by the Mat-Su Borough to “see if it could be done,” I am sure that the taxpayers are footing the largest part of the bill. Can you find out and let the people know?

Why don’t you look into the actual cost to use the port or the rail extension? Steve Silverstein, Alaska Railroad vice president of business development (his signature is on the bottom of the tariff pages) is not shy about telling you it will cost more to go to Port MacKenzie than it does to go to Seward. He says the only way it will cost less is if there is a bridge across the inlet with rails or there is substantially more business than can be identified.

The port is a joke — a joke that will be at the taxpayers’ expense. It is not safe for winter usage and Marc Van Dongen, port director, has publicly told the planning commission at the borough and the Big Lake Community Council that they are not planning to use it in the winter. They plan on storing commodities until the ice leaves. They talk a lot about coal and said they can store it and even mix the two grades from the mines before loading on ships.

But think about this, the power plants in Asia plan on a ship a week. Do you think they have a 12- to 16-week supply of coal sitting around? Will they wait for three or four months to get shipments? This means that Usibelli will still have to use Seward. Seward’s port needs work, but the railroad says it needs more freight moving to afford the repairs. If an existing port can’t make it on the freight we have. Now there’s talk about how Wishbone opening may make it possible for that port to be efficient. There is no way two ports can make it on coal. What about mixing coal or even loading and storing coal less than 2.5 miles from Anchorage? Summer prevailing winds are to the south (directly toward Anchorage) from 10 mph up to 35 mph. Is Anchorage ready for the coal dust?

The borough talks about being 130 to 145 miles closer to the tidewater. What officials don’t tell you is that they are 195 miles (each way) farther for ship traffic than Seward. Panamax and Capesize ships travel at just 15 knots. The cost to lease these ships is from $30,000 to $70,000 per day, depending on size. Seward is ice-free. It has just 15 feet difference from high to low tide and a current at about 2 to 4 knots. Port MacKenzie is full of ice in the winter. It has up to 38 feet difference from high and low tides and the current can run from 4 to 15 knots.

A ship can cruise into Seward at any time regardless of tides or ice. To get into Port MacKenzie it has to catch the tide just right. Arrive a little late and you may have to wait for days or even weeks to catch the beginning of the high tide so you can (per Van Dongen) ride the tide into port. The same goes for getting out of the Inlet. If you are delayed, you may have to wait for the right tidal conditions to leave, depending on the ship’s draft.

Due to the currents, high tidal changes, wind conditions and shifting shoals, even those who use the Inlet weekly use a local pilot to guide the ships in. If there is ice, the Coast Guard has special regulations just for Cook Inlet that require tugboats and ice watch vessels present when ships travel and even when they are moored.

The customer ultimately pays for the shipping. Even if there is a saving on the railroad, which is highly unlikely, which customer will pay this much extra for the ship to come to a port and take a chance on having to wait for hours, days or weeks for tidal changes?

According to NPI LLC, that company has lost a customer because the customer has deemed Port MacKenzie unsafe for mooring.

Currents at the Port of Anchorage can get as high as 8 knots. Just two miles across the Inlet, currents can get as high as 15 knots (during bore tide). If you check, I am positive that this port can take the title as “Most Dangerous Port in North America.”

Another note on coal from Wishbone: if the coal is taken to Palmer and shipped, it appears it only has to be trucked for about 10 miles, then put on a railcar. If it is going to Port MacKenzie, it will have to be sent by trucks. It takes 2,116 truckloads of coal to load a single Panamax ship. Consider traffic going 60 miles from the mine to Port MacKenzie and then returning — or 4,232 trucks per week — and how that will affect traffic and our roads. Remember, these trucks will be going through Palmer, Wasilla and down Knik-Goose Bay Road. It appears it will cost 20 percent more to use trucks than the rail, and since shipping is less from Seward, the customer will never prefer Port MacKenzie.

This port will never be anything more than a complimentary port to the Port of Anchorage and the Port of Seward. It will only be used in the summer, and only then when it is a matter of convenience when and if Seward gets too busy. We are wasting a lot of taxpayer money when there are a lot of other areas that need tax dollars.

You always seem to print the hyperbole the borough puts out. Why not ask the hard questions and print the facts so your readers can be informed? I have informed more than 1,000 people about the pitfalls of the port and many of them ask me why the news media tells only one viewpoint.

Grace Whedbee is a Big Lake resident.