Port Commission gets a tour of port facilities

By Diana Haecker |

With no action item on the docket, the Nome Port Commission breezed through a light agenda and then piled into a white van to get a guided tour of the port facilities, narrated by Harbormaster Lucas Stotts.
Location names that come up in every meeting – barge ramp, Thornbush laydown areas, West Tank Farm, Air Force property, the GARCO building, West Gold Dock, City Dock and Middle Dock— became meaning as Stotts in drive-by fashion guided commissioners through his expansive “office.”
In the meeting itself, Stotts told of the busy season that is just beginning to taper off. Local Lucas Marvin was hired on as assistant dock watch. Stotts reported that the docks were busy with large rock haul projects to Shishmaref and Utqiagvik as well as gravel exports to Shaktoolik and Chevak. The uplands were used for the staging of rocks trucked in from Cape Nome. During the tour, he pointed to a gigantic pile of rocks and a huge scale, saying that each rock is handled multiple times with heavy equipment and weighed one by one before it’s being put back in the pile and finally hauled down to the docks to be loaded on supersized barges. Stotts reported that the rock hauling for the Utqiagvik seawall project will continue for several more years. Another noteworthy export happened this summer as a big ship arrived in Nome, to haul the demobilized Rock Creek mill facility to Nicaragua. Stotts said it took 14 days to load, during which time port personnel provided 24/7 security while they loaded the ship with the mining equipment that had been sitting defunct at the failed Rock Creek mine since 2008. 
The port saw several fuel transfers, totaling nearly 5 million gallons of fuel for Bonanza, Crowley and NJUS. He said each of those deliveries take about 48 hours to complete, during which time port personnel and public works are providing night shifts at the pump headers. He reported that after the visit of the Sylvia Earle and Le Commandant this week, this season will have had 11 cruise ships visiting Nome. The first one to arrive this year was the Westerdam, which also brought the most visitors to Nome, with about 1,700 guests. Next year, Stotts said, it could be 13 cruise ships, give or take three, as schedules are not finalized yet. Larger gold dredges have already gone south for the winter. But the port is not done yet. Barges are still trying to get to Nome by October 15 and the UAF research vessel Sikuliaq is headed north to Nome for one last science trip further north.
As for repairs, Commissioner Shane Smithhisler inquired about the status of the West Gold Dock that was damaged by the cruise ship Roald Amundsen last year during a storm. Port Director Joy Baker said that a request for proposals didn’t result in a single bid and are most likely going to rebid the job in January. If it fails to attract bidders, she said, the port will pursue in-house repairs with PND.
Baker reported that they are still working on requirements before they can sign a grant agreement for the Snake River mooring facility, which will create more docking space for smaller vessels.
The repairs to the Cape Nome facility are done and have been completed at the end of July. The repairs will be paid with FEMA money as ex-typhoon Merbok wreaked havoc on the dock at the Cape. 
As for the port expansion, Baker said that contractors are submitting requests for information and their project submittals that will be reviewed by the Corps and the city’s contractor for the local service facilities, PND. This review and response period will continue for a couple of months, she said.