Alaskan yard looks for state help

Alaska Ship and Drydock, the operator of the Ketchikan Shipyard in Alaska, hopes to expand its facilities by obtaining substantial new federal funding, about $54 million, and other government participation for new infrastructure.

Conceived when the state decided to appropriate £30 million in the 1970s for the facility, the shipyard opened in 1987. The initial appropriation bought the land, the dry dock and built the main pier but it didn’t complete the shipyard to an economically viable operation and only has a floating dry dock with minimal upland infrastructure. A plan developed in 1982 laid out what more was needed to complete an economically viable yard with a price tag of $63 million. It includes two vertical ship lifts that would allow state ferries and other vessels to be moved onto land for repair, large structures for working under cover and other facilities.

Obtaining federal funds is a crucial component in upgrading the yard?s facilities together with signing a long-term operating agreement with the state and negotiating a power sales deal with the city of Ketchikan. The yard primarily services Alaska Marine Highway System ferries but federal, borough and private vessels also use the facility.

The shipyard is turning away customers because it does not have enough capacity or the flexibility and will gain in both capacity and flexibility next year when a second ship lift is completed. The $10 million project, funded by a $5 million federal Economic Development Administration grant and $2.5 million each from the state and the Ketchikan Gateway Borough, will be put out to bid in September.

The company is working to secure $50 million to $60 million for covered buildings for vessel repair and maintenance. The structures also could be used for the construction of new vessels and new types of maritime infrastructure such as floating power plants.