(177) stories found containing 'cruise ship'


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  • ASMI, Alaska's lone seafood marketing arm gets zero budget from state, has received no pandemic funds

    Laine Welch|May 20, 2021

    Alaska’s lone seafood marketing arm gets zero budget from the state and to date, has received no pandemic funds. The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute is hoping to get a breather from the more than $1 billion coming to Alaska in the latest round of federal relief dollars under the American Rescue Plan (ARP). The influx also provides $518 million of non-discretionary funds to Alaska and $220 million for public health and safety, workforce development, education, transportation, and emergency management. ASMI put in a $20 million request two m...

  • Public restrooms

    May 13, 2021

    The Petersburg Borough has set up two public restrooms in the Municipal Building parking lot ahead of the Little Norway Festival. The restrooms will be open from 8 A.M. to 8 P.M. and be cleaned twice a day throughout the festival, according to Utility Director Karl Hagerman. They will then be locked up until the start of the cruise ship season in June, though they may reopen sooner if the borough can come up with a workable plan to regularly service them. The Borough Assembly approved the...

  • Start of cruise ship season pushed to June

    Brian Varela|Apr 22, 2021

    The Petersburg Borough will have to wait until June 2 to see its first cruise ship of the season following a change to the local tour ship schedule. In December, eight ships were expected to make a combined 85 stops in Petersburg. As of April 10, seven ships will be making a total of 66 stops. The Alaskan Dream will be the first cruise ship to stop in Petersburg on June 2. Previously, National Geographic's Venture was going to dock in town and kick off the local cruise ship season on May 11....

  • Changes to health mandates to go before assembly

    Brian Varela|Apr 15, 2021

    The local Emergency Operations Center will be presenting the Borough Assembly with recommendations to change some local health mandates at their meeting on Monday. Incident Commander Karl Hagerman said the EOC's recommendations tie into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention move towards loosening COVID-19 protocols for Americans who are fully vaccinated against the virus. The recommendations also come at a time when Petersburg is reporting zero active cases of COVID-19 for the first tim...

  • Petersburg expects over 80 port calls this summer

    Brian Varela|Feb 18, 2021

    The Canadian government issued an order on Feb. 4 to prohibit cruise ships in all Canadian waters until Feb. 28, 2022, but Dave Berg, cofounder of Viking Travel, said the restriction would only affect one cruise line expected to port in Petersburg this summer. Victory Cruise Lines' foreign-flagged ship Ocean Victory is scheduled to port in Petersburg eight times this season, with the first stop expected on July 17. According to the Jones Act, which regulates maritime commerce in the United...

  • Cruise ships begin scheduling local port calls

    Brian Varela|Feb 4, 2021

    Cruise ships are expected to make 85 port calls in Petersburg between May 11 and Sept. 18, according to the current 2021 Petersburg cruise ship schedule. Following the cancelled ports of call in Petersburg and Alaska last year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dave Berg said tourists are eager to make their way back up to America's Last Frontier. "We're getting lots of calls from people who want to visit Alaska on ferries or with tours," said Berg, who cofounded Viking Travel. "The number...

  • Department of Environmental Conservation to test harbor water quality

    Brian Varela|Jan 21, 2021

    During a discussion on the possibility of testing the water quality in the Petersburg Harbor at the Borough Assembly meeting on Tuesday, Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht said the Department of Environmental Conservation is already scheduled to come to town this summer to do just that. Mayor Mark Jensen said he and other mayors in Southeast Alaska lobbied Sen. Bert Stedman to pass legislation that would test the water quality of the region's aquatic traffic lanes. He said fishermen were complaini...

  • Guest Editorial: Alaska needs to do better for ferry system

    Larry Persily, Wrangell Sentinel Publisher|Jan 7, 2021

    Predictability and dependability. More than anything else, that's what the communities served by the Alaska Marine Highway System need. The communities need to know the schedules further in advance so that they can plan school sports, scholastic and musical events, regional festivals, and confidently market to tourists in a post-COVID world. Residents need the dependability of ferry service for medical appointments, commerce and shopping, vehicle repair appointments at dealers, and of course...

  • Candidates express opinions, positions at forum

    Brian Varela|Oct 1, 2020

    This year's borough assembly candidates took the stage on Sept. 24 to answer questions ranging from the borough's COVID-19 response to the tourism industry in this year's candidate forum. The candidates answered questions from representatives of KFSK and the Petersburg Pilot. Marc Martinsen, Dave Kensinger and incumbents Jeff Meucci and Brandi Thynes were each asked the same questions and had two minutes to respond. The order of the candidates changed with each question that was asked. The forum...

  • Harbor port of entry mandate extended

    Brian Varela|Sep 3, 2020

    Vessels arriving in Petersburg Harbor with non-residents onboard will have to continue to seek approval from the borough public health officer before docking through Dec. 31 under public health mandate #5, which was extended in a special meeting on Monday by the assembly. Public health mandate #5 requires interstate travelers aboard vessels, including passengers and crew, be screened to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 prior to arrival. Borough Public Health Officer Mark Tuccillo will...

  • Cruise ships down to 10 port calls

    Brian Varela|Jul 16, 2020

    American Cruise Lines has cancelled their voyages through Southeast Alaska this summer leaving Lindblad Expeditions as the last cruise line with port calls in Petersburg this summer. ACL had originally planned to make about 11 stops in Petersburg this summer, with the American Constellation making the cruise line's first stop at the end of June, according to a statement made to the Pilot in May by ACL CEO Charles B. Robertson. Paul Taiclet, vice president of ACL, said on Monday the decision to...

  • Yesterday's News

    Jul 2, 2020

    July 2, 1920 The big party of Shriners who are making the tour of Southeastern Alaska this week on the steamers Jefferson and Spokane were entertained by the people of Petersburg on their way north on Tuesday. The entertainment took the form of a luncheon served at the S. of N. Hall, the main part of which consisted of fresh shrimp salad. For several days before the arrival the men and women were busy decorating the hall with bear skins, goatskins, deerskins, fox skins, mounted heads and when the Shriners were here the hall presented a very att...

  • EOC concerned over cruise ships arriving this season

    Brian Varela|Jun 4, 2020

    The borough assembly approved the Emergency Operations Center to answer a survey from the Alaska Municipal League regarding the presence of cruise ships in Alaska and also heard concerns over cruise ships arriving in port. The assembly had the option to hold a special meeting to provide input on the survey, but the assembly members felt comfortable with the EOC answering the questions. Borough Incident Commander Karl Hagerman said the communities at a recent AML meeting were cautious and showed...

  • Pandemic brings on depression among Alaskans

    Brian Varela|May 28, 2020

    Petersburg Public Health Nurse Erin Michael warned the public that as people's lives change and adapt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they can begin to feel depressed and suicidal. At the COVID-19 community update on Wednesday, May 27, Micheal said the state reported an increase in emergency room visits related to suicide. She said it's not uncommon for people to feel anxious or depressed as they deal with the pandemic. Some specific causes of depression brought on by the pandemic can be a lack...

  • American Cruise Line hopes to dock in town this summer

    Brian Varela|May 21, 2020

    American Cruise Lines has 11 stops planned for Petersburg this season, with the first docking taking place at the end of June, according to ACL CEO Charles B. Robertson. ACL's American Constellation is planning to dock in Petersburg on June 21 and June 29, the first of the cruise lines' expected stops in town. The two sailings will begin in Juneau and make their way counterclockwise through Southeast Alaska. Nine more stops are planned in Petersburg through the summer, with the last trip being...

  • Wrangell Port Commission approves request to relocate submarine cable

    Caleb Vierkant|May 14, 2020

    WRANGELL — It was a relatively light meeting of the Wrangell Port Commission last Thursday evening, May 7. There was only one agenda item for the commission to consider, a request by GCI to relocate the landing for a submarine cable. The telecommunication company currently has a submarine cable come onto the beach next to the community garden area, near City Park. From there, according to the meeting’s agenda packet, the cable hits aerial lines and goes to its hub building, and also leaves the beach area and runs towards Petersburg. How...

  • Pandemic erases most of Alaska cruises, passenger bookings

    May 7, 2020

    JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Nearly 70% of this summer’s Alaska cruise ship voyages have been canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, with hundreds of thousands of expected passengers staying away from the staple of the state’s tourism industry. Alaska cruise industry representatives delivered the disheartening update to the state’s Board of Marine Pilots, CoastAlaska reported Wednesday. Mike Tibbles of Cruise Lines International Association Alaska told board members that 408 voyages have been canceled so far. “It’s a little over 800,000 pas...

  • Borough approves public health mandates #5, #6

    Brian Varela|Apr 23, 2020

    The borough assembly approved two health mandates at their assembly meeting on Monday regarding the use of the borough's harbor facilities by cruise ships and the submission of essential workers' travel plans in the borough. Public health mandate #5 prevents cruise ships from using the borough's harbor facilities and passengers and crew members from disembarking onto borough docks or floats without prior written approval of Borough Public Health Officer Mark Tuccillo. Approval will be given to...

  • Guest Commentary

    Apr 2, 2020

    Sen. Bert Stedman has been serving Southeast communities for 17 years. He is the Senate Finance Committee co-chair. It did not take a positive test for the Alaska State Legislature to begin addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and treat it with an urgency the virus deserves. Rather, the Senate acted swiftly on March 11 – one day before the state announced its first confirmed case in Alaska– when it passed the first of five bills in a three-week period. As we communicated with our respective com... Full story

  • Future of this year's cruise ship season undetermined

    Brian Varela|Mar 26, 2020

    As the first cruise ships are expected to arrive in town on May 12, it is still too early to tell how COVID-19 will affect the cruise ship industry in Southeast Alaska, according to Dave Berg, co-founder of Viking Travel. One issue affecting large, foreign cruise ships is the closure of the Vancouver cruise ship port, said Berg. The closure was a result of COVID-19, and the cruise ship port isn't expected to reopen until June 30. While most of the ships that port in Petersburg are small,...

  • Cruise company shifts plan to dock ship in Juneau

    Mar 19, 2020

    JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — State museums and schools are temporarily closed; restaurants, bars and gyms in Anchorage are shuttered for the rest of March and fans are urged not to fly to Nome for the end of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. These are among the responses to concerns with the new coronavirus in Alaska. The COVID-19 illness causes mild or moderate symptoms in most people, but severe symptoms are more likely in the elderly or those with existing health problems. Three people have tested positive in Alaska. Here is a round up of other vir...

  • Strong economy expected for borough

    Brian Varela|Mar 12, 2020

    The borough's sales tax has brought in $2,362,621 for the 2020 fiscal year so far, which is about $90,000 higher than what was brought in this time last year, according to Finance Director Jody Tow. Some businesses in town have been seeing the increase in spending, showing that the borough is in for a prosperous calendar year. The Petersburg Borough has seen a slight upward trend in the amount of money it has been collecting through sales tax since the 2016 fiscal year; however, the sales tax...

  • Ship turned away by Asia ports carrying new crew

    Mar 12, 2020

    JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A cruise ship turned away from ports in Asia over fears of a new virus will be cleaned to federal standards and carry a different crew when the vessel docks in Alaska, officials said. The MS Westerdam is expected to undergo a cleaning protocol approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before arriving in Juneau, The Juneau Empire reported Sunday. The ship is scheduled to dock in the port around March 22 after being denied permission to enter five ports over concerns about the virus that causes the d...

  • Governor seeks to assert calm over virus concerns

    Mar 12, 2020

    JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, seeking to assert calm concerning the new coronavirus threat, said Monday he sees the fall in oil prices as a “momentary issue’’ that with the stock market will work itself out. The virus has affected global energy prices, with North Slope oil prices around $45 a barrel at the end of last week. The state, which has struggled with a long-running deficit, relies on oil revenue and earnings from its oil-wealth fund, the Alaska Permanent Fund, to help pay for government. Alaska Permanent Fund Co...

  • Guest Commentary: AMHS can be saved

    Frank Murkowski, former Governor|Feb 6, 2020

    I am almost a lifetime SE Alaskan and my wife and I are current residents of Wrangell. I moved to Ketchikan in 1943 when I was ten years old and have lived and worked in almost every major Southeast Alaska city including Ketchikan, Juneau, Wrangell and Sitka and played a lot of high school basketball in Petersburg. I continue to invest in institutions that provide services in each of those communities including Haines and Skagway. I cite these facts because I know how sensitive SE residents are to suggestions offered by well-meaning persons...

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