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The number of cruise ship stops in Petersburg is down again this year, continuing a trend that has seen the town’s port call count slip from around 110 in 2022 to 85 scheduled for 2026. But local travel agents say the picture on the ground is more stable than the numbers initially suggest. The drop in stops this year is due to the closure this winter of Sitka-based, Allen Marine-owned Alaskan Dream Cruises. Its fleet, the Alaskan Dream, Admiralty Dream, Baranof Dream and Chichagof Dream, carried between 40 and 80 passengers each and have b...
American Cruise Line's long-discussed cruise ship dock project in Petersburg took another step forward last week when the borough assembly approved the first reading of an ordinance rezoning a 22,500-square-foot parcel at the end of Dock Street to accommodate ACL's proposed facility. The ordinance, which must pass two additional readings before final adoption, changes the parcel from un-zoned to Industrial with Marine Industrial Overlay. The Planning Commission unanimously recommended the...
WRANGELL - With just four weeks left before the deadline, Wrangell borough is pressing ahead to complete its application for a $50 million federal grant to help pay for several projects to boost the town's economic future. "We all know we've been economically depressed" since the timber industry collapsed more than a generation ago, Kate Thomas, the borough's economic development director, told the assembly at a work session on Jan. 27. The federal grant, through the Economic Development...
WRANGELL - The borough has officially partnered with a growing cruise line to bring a new dock to the community. The borough assembly voted unanimously on Jan. 7 to approve a 40-year tidelands lease for American Cruise Lines (ACL), which will build the dock. The decision followed months of negotiations and a public work session. The lease allows the company to build and operate a floating dock on the downtown waterfront. Borough Manager Mason Villarma described the deal as a "custom fit" for...
Wrangell’s economic development board, which advises the assembly, has raised several questions about a possible borough land lease for a California-based company to build and operate a small-scale data center. The board voted 5-0 on Jan. 5 to recommend the assembly move forward with the lease for one or two acres at the former 6-Mile Mill property, but not until board members added several issues that they believe the assembly needs to consider. Those include any water discharge from the data center, the potential for noise and light p...
January 2025 The Petersburg Borough Assembly agreed to transfer seven parcels of borough-owned land in the Airport Addition Subdivision to Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority (THRHA) in exchange for the developing road and utilities for 11 residential lots. The snowpack at the Raven's Ridge snow survey site at 1,650 ft elevation measured zero inches. One of only two years on record without snowpack in January. Rock-N-Road Construction was awarded the contract for the borough's Pump Station...
While the 23-year-old, 360-foot-long American Empress cruise ship is being stripped of its superstructure for conversion into a deck barge, the borough is looking at buying four diesel generators to use as a backup power source for industrial development plans at the former 6-Mile mill site. The dismantling and conversion work started last month at the Tideline Construction operation at 6-Mile, where the company runs a scrap metal recycling business and is taking apart the Empress for the ship’s owner, American Cruise Lines. The four C...
Q: Ideas to increase economic opportunity? "The smaller cruise ship tourism ... and the Scow Bay haul-out has potential ... once that facility is created, a mobile, submersible travel lift, to haul boats out ... a new cruise ship dock that would be a partnership between borough and American Cruise Lines ... the more medical treatment we can do in town, those dollars will circulate through here before they leave, those big dollars ... and the act of building the housing will help our economy...
Scott Newman decided to run for mayor because he feels "there hasn't been strong leadership, advancing any advocacy towards the big projects in the community like the hospital and in tourism ... I kind of feel like we've had a bit of a dysfunctional process." "We could be advocating more strongly, at a state and federal level for these projects that we have going on, mainly the hospital," Newman told the Pilot in an interview. "I just don't feel like we've been doing enough in that direction....
Scammers posing as Petersburg Borough Planning and Zoning Director Liz Cabrera sent official-looking emails soliciting payment of nearly $5,000 to at least two individuals with pending applications before the planning commission this month, prompting borough staff to change how they handle applicant information. The fraudulent emails, which included detailed invoices, were sophisticated enough to alarm local officials despite both targeted applicants recognizing the scam before losing money....
Petersburg's borough assembly passed its overall budget for the next fiscal year on June 2. But the option to allocate a million dollars from the harbor reserves for a potential cruise dock project caused friction for the final vote. The Petersburg Borough's general fund was nearly $400,000 in the red for the last fiscal year, but that's not the case this time. The borough's next budget is in the black, despite state and federal funding reductions and inflationary costs in all departments....
While the total number of cruise ship visits to Petersburg will decline this summer, local tourism experts say the quality of port calls should actually increase. "I think after looking at the schedule, the numbers of port calls are down, however, the quality of port calls are high," said James Valentine, co-owner of Viking Travel. Petersburg will welcome 87 cruise ship visits in 2025, down from 104 the previous year. However, Valentine notes that many of last year's visits came at times when to...
The Southeast island community of Petersburg held a town hall meeting on Feb. 10 to discuss the future of tourism in "Alaska's Little Norway." The borough is considering a potential partnership with a small cruise ship company and may see more tourists in coming years. While the conversation welcomed ideas related to tourism in general -like emergency services, trails and public restrooms- much of the discussion pertained to increasing tourism, especially from cruise ships, and what that means...
Words are powerful To the Editor: My wife and I attended the Council meeting Tuesday regarding the proposed new dock that would be partially paid for by American Cruise Lines, which comes with a 60 year commitment to their priority and continued use. Taking money from large corporations always comes with strings attached, many of which aren’t fully realized until it is far too late. That being said though, I believe that all my feelings were more clearly expressed by all the other speakers. In fact, I am no more opposed than anyone else in t...
January 2024 A prized Mental Health Trust lot by Blind River Rapids, a popular recreation site for sport fishing, was sold at auction to a USCG family. Toler and Jessie Alexander are eager to return to Petersburg after retiring from the Coast Guard in a few years. The borough listed its top priority capital projects, and the Petersburg Medical Center replacement was first and second on the list – for the main hospital construction and the main hospital interior build out. Petersburg Indian A...
American Cruise Lines —operators of a small cruise ship that frequents Petersburg during the summer— is working with the borough to design and potentially build a dedicated cruise ship docking space at the end of Dock Street. Having a guaranteed place for the cruise line to dock could help the harbor department to better manage vessel congestion in the inner harbor. Splitting the cost with American Cruise Lines (ACL), the borough has hired PND Engineering for conceptual drawings to assess wha...
Petersburg is expecting a 35% increase in passenger berths from last year as the cruise ship industry rebounds from two summers hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. This summer has the potential of seeing 11,000 cruise ship passengers across 107 port calls according to Dave Berg, president of Viking Travel and a ships agent for Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska. Some of the cruise lines that will visit Petersburg this year include Alaska Dream Cruises, American Cruise Lines, National Geographic, and...
Breakthrough COVID-19 cases found in Alaska April 30 Between Feb. 1 and March 31, Alaska Department of Health and Social Services identified 152 positive cases of COVID-19 among people in the state who were fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to a report from DHSS. About 74 percent of the vaccine breakthrough cases, or 112 individuals, were among people who had received the Pfizer vaccine, according to the report. Thirty-eight percent of the breakthrough cases had received the Moderna... Full story
In the story about PMC’s discussion of the rise of COVID-19 cases in July from the July 29 edition of the Pilot, it was stated that positive COVID-19 cases from the American Cruise Lines vessel Constellation were linked to positive cases among Petersburg residents. Though there were cases among Petersburg residents and there were cases among people from the Constellation in July, a link between the two groups has not been established....
The Petersburg Medical Center Board reviewed the recent COVID-19 outbreak during their July 22 meeting. Infection Prevention and Quality Manager Liz Bacom presented a report on the increase of COVID cases in July. According to Bacom’s report, the two contributing factors were the arrival of the American Cruise Lines vessel Constellation and the Independence Day celebrations. Four passengers and two crew members from the Constellation with positive tests isolated in Petersburg while recovering f...
The Borough Assembly discussed Monday how the most recent COVID-19 outbreak in Petersburg was handled and the resulting communication issues. The outbreak was linked to the American Cruise Lines vessel American Constellation which was docked in Petersburg. Assembly Member Jeff Meucci requested the discussion to review how information was communicated by the various groups involved in resolving the crisis to the assembly. "One of the concerns I had was that, and this is not to blame anybody, but...
Petersburg Medical Center reports four positive COVID-19 cases locally since July 9. On Fri., July 9 a resident of Petersburg tested positive for COVID 19 and is isolating at their home. On Sat., July 10 a guest from the American Cruise Lines Vessel American Constellation tested positive and is isolating in Petersburg with a family member who had tested positive previously. An American Cruise Lines representative is staying in Petersburg to assist them. On Mon., July 12 two new cases tested...
Petersburg Medical Center reports four positive COVID-19 cases locally in the past four days. On Fri., July 9 a resident of Petersburg tested positive for COVID 19 and is isolating at their home. On Sat., July 10 a guest from the American Cruise Lines Vessel American Constellation tested positive and is isolating in Petersburg with a family member who had tested positive previously. An American Cruise Lines representative is staying in Petersburg to assist them. On Mon., July 12 two new cases... Full story
The Canadian government issued an order on Feb. 4 to prohibit cruise ships in all Canadian waters until Feb. 28, 2022, but Dave Berg, cofounder of Viking Travel, said the restriction would only affect one cruise line expected to port in Petersburg this summer. Victory Cruise Lines' foreign-flagged ship Ocean Victory is scheduled to port in Petersburg eight times this season, with the first stop expected on July 17. According to the Jones Act, which regulates maritime commerce in the United...
Cruise ships are expected to make 85 port calls in Petersburg between May 11 and Sept. 18, according to the current 2021 Petersburg cruise ship schedule. Following the cancelled ports of call in Petersburg and Alaska last year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dave Berg said tourists are eager to make their way back up to America's Last Frontier. "We're getting lots of calls from people who want to visit Alaska on ferries or with tours," said Berg, who cofounded Viking Travel. "The number...
