Cruise ships are not able to dock there (or at least they don’t), and the Alaska Marine Highway System doesn’t stop there. Any reason? One thing that I thought was that since Anchorage is on the north side of the Kenai Peninsula, and the other common ports offering passenger service to Anchorage (like Whittier and Seward) are on the south side that it was just more cost effective to drop people off and let them bus or locomote their way north. Anything else???
They are planning on expanding the docks to accomodate cruise ships. It just hasn’t happened yet. The port is fairly new (1961), designed solely for cargo and is not in a good part of town. Industry and supply come first. When the dock expansion is completed, they will be able to handle ships up to 1000’ in length. Then maybe you’ll start seeing some cruise ships arrive.
Last I heard the expansion project ran afoul of conservation issues, not to mention who’s going to have to pay for the work.
There you go. Expect passenger service sometime around June, 2157.
Isn’t it also a fairly shallow harbour that requires occasional dredging?
Shallow, with extremely fast tide action. Also, all that pesky ice in the winter. Sounds like a real moneymaker to me.