Shell’s drill ships left Seattle Wednesday morning, headed for Unalaska on their way to the Arctic. The ships were originally scheduled to bypass town, but now it looks like they might be around for a while.

Persistent sea ice in the Alaskan Arctic could delay the start of the drilling season by two to three weeks, according to Shell Alaska spokesperson Curtis Smith. The company had hoped to start work in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas on July 15.

Following up on last week’s major eruption, Cleveland Volcano rumbled again Tuesday morning, sending up a small ash cloud that dissipated quickly. Scientists at the Alaska Volcano Observatory say satellite imagery shows a new lava dome growing in Cleveland’s crater, so the pyrotechnics probably aren’t over yet. The volcano has been erupting since last July, with period ash emissions.

On Friday, 32 Unalaska residents became the country’s newest citizens. City Hall held a special citizenship ceremony for them, presided over by federal district court judge Deborah Smith. Here, in their own words, are some of the new Americans.

Unalaska isn’t the only Aleutian port that could see development as a result of offshore and gas drilling. A recent agreement between Offshore Systems Inc and the Aleut Corporation could result in the conversion of Adak’s former military facilities to an oil and gas support hub. But it’s not yet clear whether that will mean less business for Unalaska.

City manager Chris Hladick was expecting proposals for development of other ports in the Aleutians or along the west coast of Alaska.

“At this point in the planning stages of development, of exploration and actual development of the oil, anything is open for these folks to look at," he says. "So, in some respects, it’s a competition.”

As a major commercial fishing port, Hladick says Unalaska already has the upper hand.

“We not only have the docks, we have the industry here set up, ready to go," he says. "Yeah, it might need some expansion, but we understand what it takes to get a ship in and get it out.”

Unalaska is already the staging site for Shell Oil’s support vessels, as they head up north this summer to do exploratory drilling the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. But the near-term commitment might not mean much in the long run. cont

Since becoming governor, Sean Parnell has used “choose respect” as a signature slogan of his administration. The phrase is tied with his effort to reduce sexual and family violence across Alaska, and it’s something the state promotes through public service announcements and awareness campaigns throughout the year. So when Parnell’s deputy visited Unalaska last week, reducing the instance of child abuse and domestic violence was a top concern for local residents.

The arrival of the oil and gas industry could bring major infrastructure changes to Unalaska. How to plan for those changes was the primary focus of last night’s Planning Commission work session. City planning director Erin Reinders says the goal over the next year should be to develop a comprehensive land use plan, identifying areas where development should happen and areas where it’s off-limits.

Oil and gas development in the Arctic could mean some major changes for the city of Adak. On Tuesday, Offshore Systems Inc and several subsidiaries of the Aleut Corporation signed an agreement to collaborate on developing the former military base as a support hub for Arctic oil drilling. OSI spokesperson Jim Butler says the community is a logical place for future development. 

“Adak is a former naval station. It has significant fuel storage capacity. It has in excess of 400,000 feet of warehouse space. It has runways, large runways, that allow for heavy cargo planes to come in and out, passenger vessels. It has a number of lodging facilities and everything from an idle movie theatre to a roller rink. It’s basically a small town that is currently not being utilized, in addition to a deepwater port in a protected area.”

Pollock B season is now two weeks in, but fishermen and plant managers are still trying to get a sense of how lucrative this summer will be.

Vessels made scouting trips from Unimak Pass to the Pribilof Islands during the first week, and landed about 46,417 metric tons of pollock in the process. They have 720,000 metric tons available to harvest for the season.

Paolo de Cruz works on the F/V Arctic Wind, and he has a mixed report on the season's start. He says that the competition for fish isn't intense, since the fleet isn't yet at full capacity, and that the pollock that boats are catching is good-sized. But he’s says that boats are still having to expend more effort than they would like to get that fish.

Two of the state’s top-ranked officials are scheduled to visit Unalaska tomorrow.

Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell and Chief Federal Magistrate Deborah Smith will be participating in a naturalization ceremony for new citizens in the morning. In the afternoon, both will be available to answer questions from the public at a reception at city hall.

Treadwell has served as lieutenant governor since 2010, following multiple terms on the U.S. Arctic Research Commission. Smith was appointed to a federal judgeship in 2007.