The news that Shell Oil was abandoning its quest for oil in the Arctic Ocean came as a shock in Unalaska and around the state. Unalaska officials said the move won’t hit the city’s budget too hard. But local companies doing business with Shell are scrambling to figure out what it will mean for them.
Unalaska Mayor Shirley Marquardt said it will hurt the companies providing support to Shell’s Arctic effort in the short run.
The Equanimity anchored off Unalaska's Town Beach. KUCB/John Ryan photo.
One of the world’s largest yachts cruised into Unalaska from the Bering Sea on Tuesday.
The Equanimity sailed down from the Arctic Ocean after crossing the Northwest Passage from Greenland, a voyage only recently made possible by a shrinking polar ice cap.
The sleek blue and white super-yacht is reportedly owned by a billionaire embroiled in a financial scandal rocking the government of Malaysia.
Unalaska's tallest building? KUCB/John Ryan photo.
The biggest cruise ship ever to visit the Aleutian Islands pulled into Unalaska’s Dutch Harbor Tuesday morning. The floating city known as the Celebrity Millennium disgorged about 2,500 passengers and 1,000 crew. In tandem with nearly 300 passengers in town from the much smaller Le Boreal, the two cruise ships nearly doubled the population of Unalaska for the day.
For many towns in southern Alaska, the arrival of a mega cruise ship would make for an ordinary or even a slow day for tourism. Juneau can handle five big cruise ships at once. But those towns along the main cruise corridors have infrastructure for a deluge of wandering pedestrians seeking entertainment. Unalaska does not.
The Resolve Ibis at its new long-term mooring site off Unalaska's Front Beach. KUCB/John Ryan photo.
If you’ve wondered why a 200-foot orange barge has been parked in front of Unalaska’s downtown for the past week, here’s why: It’s the Resolve Ibis, and it’s the centerpiece of an effort to improve the safety of big ships passing throughout the Aleutian Islands. It could be parked there for the next five years.
The orange, boldly lettered barge is the most visible element of a private effort to improve shipping safety along the Great Circle route across the Pacific.
The Chinese Navy's Honzehu destroyer at Pearl Harbor in 2006. US Navy photo.
As President Obama tours northwest Alaska, five Chinese navy ships have been spotted in the Bering Sea off southwest Alaska.
Three of China’s surface-warfare ships, a resupply vessel and a landing craft were seen in international waters off the Aleutian Islands, according to Pentagon officials.
“This is the first time we’ve observed People’s Liberation Army navy ships in the Bering Sea,” Commander Bill Urban, spokesperson for Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, said. “We do respect the freedom of all nations to operate military vessels in international waters in accordance with international law. So, no reason why they shouldn’t be there.”
The USS Seawolf in Unalaska Bay on Aug. 14, 2015. KUCB/John Ryan photo.
A US Navy submarine pulled into Unalaska Bay near the town landfill Friday morning. The sub made no contact with the Port of Dutch Harbor, according to Harbor Master John Days.
It did communicate with the Royal Pacific, a boat hauling wastewater from the Unisea fish-processing plant, as they were crossing paths.
As is usual for Navy subs, the boat did not identify itself by name over the radio.
Unalaska’s population could nearly double Sept. 15 when the Celebrity Millennium docks here.
Community leaders are worried enough, they’re holding a town hall meeting on how to handle—and help—the onslaught of tourists at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Burma Road Chapel.
“It’s going to be overwhelming,” Unalaska/Dutch Harbor ports director Peggy McLaughlin said.
Mihey Basargin of Wasilla on the docks in Dutch Harbor after being rescued. KUCB/John Ryan photo.
Two fishermen were rescued from their boat grounded off Unalga Island in the eastern Aleutians on Tuesday.
A Coast Guard helicopter crew from Air Station Kodiak hoisted the men to safety about 1 pm. The two were flown to Dutch Harbor and did not require medical attention.
The owner and skipper of the Alaskan Catch said he's glad he and his crewmate are unscathed, but his 35-foot boat is a total loss.
Former Senator Mark Begich, his former Senate staffer Schawna Thoma and Grant Aviation president Bob Lowrance in Unalaska. KUCB/John Ryan photo.
Unalaska got a visit from a former senator on Wednesday.
Former U.S. Senator Mark Begich came to town to do some public relations work for Grant Aviation.
Begich now runs a five-person P.R. and consulting firm called Northern Compass Group.
The airline hosted what it called a town hall meeting on how to improve its service in the Aleutians.
“You cannot determine the long-term plan of Grant Aviation without knowing what the communities need and want and then prioritizing what’s real and possible,” Begich said.
