Corps of Engineers advances Arctic port study

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is preparing to recommend a configuration of port facilities in western Alaska that could serve ships sailing to Arctic waters. The Corps in early March will announce which configuration of docks, harbors and other infrastructure could best serve vessels in northern U.S. waters. The choice could be Nome, nearby Port Clarence, or a combination of the Seward Peninsula locations. The Alaska office of the Corps, performing a feasibility study on behalf of the state of Alaska, has made its preferred choice from 19 iterations, said Lorraine Cordova, who heads the study. “The part of the process we’re in right now is to get our U.S. Army Corps of Engineers headquarters to agree to a tentatively selected plan,” she said. Officials in Washington wanted a review of ship traffic into Nome before making a decision. “There are cruise ships, for crying out loud, going into Nome, and all of them are attempting to use the same barge dock,” Cordova said. “So our traffic analysis is looking at those various user types, how long would they stay at the harbor in previous years, and what does that vessel traffic look like in the future.” The lack of a...