Port MacKenzie faces commerce challenges

January 13, 2006

DAWN DE BUSK\Frontiersman reporter

PORT MACKENZIE - The biggest challenge facing NPI during the last month of 2005 while it did business at Port MacKenzie's deep-water dock was not having enough wood chips to load ships bound for paper-making factories in Asia, according to Port MacKenzie director Marc Van Dongen.

&#8220We need a second source of chips closer to the port. I don't want to get into politics. We built Port MacKenzie's dock for the main purpose of exporting natural resources. We need to provide access to more natural resources like timber, sand and gravel, and, later, coal,” Van Dongen said. &#8220If we don't have those natural resources readily available, it defeats the purpose of building the port in the first place.”

Van Dongen said he's discouraged with the number of time sales of timber to NPI have been denied by the Mat-Su Borough Assembly, which is trying to establish rules for harvesting timber in the Valley.

NPI didn't have enough wood chips stockpiled, and so Siam Ocean, which arrived Dec. 18 from South Korea, was delayed while workers rushed to fill its holds. Then, the 629-foot Kure arrived Dec. 21 as the Siam Ocean pulled out of port with its load of birch chips, and workers scrambled again to finish by Dec. 23 - giving them Christmas Eve and a day off, Van Dongen said.

A shortage of spruce wood chips caused the Kure to leave without a complete load, four out of six of its holds full, tipping in at 18,500 tons, he said.

It's a long haul between Port MacKenzie and Montana Creek Road, where chips are still being harvested, so most trucks can only make two trips a day, Van Dongen said.

Chips were also trucked from Fort Richardson, he said.

Ideally, the trucks contracted by NPI could make one long run and a couple of short runs to be more efficient, he said.

&#8220I hope the Fish Creek management areas opens up for timber harvest. The borough owns two-thirds and the state controls one-third,” he said.

Mat-Su Borough assembly member Betty Vehrs said the assembly has postponed two sales until it can finalize regulations on harvesting timber.

&#8220If [NPI's] bottom line relies on those two small sales, they're in trouble,” Vehrs said.

Another way to alleviate the lack of wood chips on hand is to plan labor around the seasons. Van Dongen suggested that NPI stockpile woodchips during the winter, when roads can handle the wear and tear, he said.

Then, during spring breakup, when tighter road restrictions kick in, NPI could rely on timber from barges from Homer, Tyonek and Kodiak, Van Dongen said.

Kathy Wells, with Friends of Mat-Su, said the Valley should focus on creating a light-manufacturing facility rather than exporting wood chips, to make recycled paper from post-consumer waste. That plan would create more local jobs and still keep the port in use by barging out the end product, she said.

&#8220Why are the chips going on the ships? We could make paper products here,” Wells said.

She said Valley Community for Recycling Solutions and residents' recycling efforts could support such a manufacturing plant in the port's business district.

&#8220We now have an economic development director who can look for other industries besides the modular-building company and NPI. People aren't going to come to Mat-Su and say ‘Got any business?'” Vehrs said. &#8220I'm looking forward to a lot of activities at the port.”

But Port MacKenzie isn't relying solely on business from NPI. The dock was designed with many natural resources in mind, and officials are already looking to new horizons, Van Dongen said.

This month, the port will advertise a bid for exporting sand and gravel via the deep-draft dock, Van Dongen said.

The next wood-chip ship is scheduled to arrive at Port MacKenzie sometime in March.

Port MacKenzie exceeded previous predictions of docking four ships in 2005.

&#8220We had six ships in 101/2 months and 12 barges that utilized the port, which generated $225,000 just in wharfage and dockage,” he said. &#8220If we didn't get the dock built this year, we wouldn't have generated anything.”

Contact Dawn De Busk at

352-2252 or dawn.debusk@

frontiersman.com.