The city is looking for a new shipping partner to help finance this $46 million-dollar dock expansion. (Courtesy: City of Unalaska)

City council will take a second look at a proposal to find a new anchor tenant at the Unalaska Marine Center tonight. But after ample public comment, the draft of the request for proposals hasn’t changed much.

The city's new draft request for proposals aims to address the concerns of dozens of union laborers, who asked for assurances that their jobs would be safe no matter what company got the city's new contract for the preferred use of the dock.

What goes up must come down -- and the crane that Horizon Lines has kept at the Unalaska Marine Center dock for more than 20 years is no exception.

Horizon has hired R.L. Moore Metal Recycling to remove the crane from its rails. Traffic was stopped on Ballyhoo Road around 4 p.m. on Thursday as the contractors made their second attempt in as many days.

Ron Moore says his company has performed similar jobs at ports in Virginia. But the Horizon crane presents a unique problem.

For the next four years, Shell's Arctic drill rigs will have a home in Unalaska.

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources has issued permits for the Noble Discoverer and Polar Pioneer rigs to occupy state-owned lands in Wide Bay. That area was recommended by Unalaska's port director and marine pilots.

(Courtesy: Marine Exchange of Alaska)

The Coast Guard hoisted a sick crewman off a processing ship near Unalaska on Sunday night.

The Northern Victor is a 380-foot pollock processor that anchors in Beaver Inlet, about 13 miles from town.

They called Unalaska EMS and the Coast Guard Cutter Munro, which is on a port call in town, for help on Sunday.

Acting fire chief Zac Schasteen says a 37-year-old crew member on the Victor was having a diabetic crisis.

The M/V Lindavia was anchored outside Dutch Harbor on Friday afternoon. (Annie Ropeik/KUCB)

A cargo ship under investigation in a possible oil pollution case will be able to leave Unalaska, after its owner posted a $500,000 bond on Thursday.

The 600-foot M/V Lindavia, owned by Herm. Dauelsberg of Germany, has been detained by the Coast Guard in Unalaska for the past two weeks.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Anchorage says the ship's owner signed a security agreement to let them leave port.

Unalaska’s clinic has secured its first big donation from a corporate charitable foundation -- and it’s one locals will recognize.

Shell Oil’s Shell Foundation is giving Iliuliuk Family & Health Services $30,000 to pay for specialists to visit the island over the next year.

The clinic gets money from the state and federal government, but director Eileen Conlon Scott says private donations like this are rare. She says she asked several foundations for help during a recent fundraising effort, and Shell was the only one who responded.

Wide Bay, at top left, would be the primary moorage for the Polar Pioneer. The other two options would be used only as back-ups. (via Shell Oil)

Local officials say Shell Oil has agreed to keep their drill rigs tied up in just one location each in Unalaska, as the company looks to return to the Arctic this summer. 

In their request for state permits, Shell listed Wide Bay, Nateekin Bay and Summer Bay as moorage options for the Polar Pioneer.

That had raised concerns with Rick Entenmann of the Alaska Marine Pilots. Now, he says Shell is promising to use Nateekin and Summer Bays only as back-ups. 

(Credit: smp/marinetraffic.com)

The Coast Guard is holding a cargo ship in Unalaska over alleged environmental crimes.

The Lindavia arrived in port from China a couple of weeks ago. Kevin Feldis, with the U.S. Attorney's Office, says the 600-foot ship was loading up with seafood to take back to Asia. But was detained before it could leave port.

"Right now the crew is still here in Dutch Harbor, and they will be staying there pending further steps in the investigation," Feldis said Tuesday.

Longshoremen and their families packed City Hall to hear about plans for finding a new preferred shipper at the city dock. (Annie Ropeik/KUCB)

Unalaska’s dock workers usually spend their Friday mornings pulling mail and groceries from a weekly Horizon Lines container ship.

But that offload went on hold for a few hours this week, as longshoremen and their families packed into a special city council meeting. The council was considering a draft request for proposals for a new, long-term preferred use agreement at the dock that Horizon Lines has occupied for 25 years -- and services with union labor.

"We wanted to demonstrate who we are in the community," said union president Doug Leggett. "We brought as many kids as we could out of the schools and that sort of thing to show that whatever happens, it affects a lot of people."