The bulk coal carrier JP Azure visited Port MacKenzie as part of a feasibility study on whether Alaska coal can be shipped from the port to Japan. (Courtesy Mat-Su Borough) |
by Channel 2 News staff
Saturday, June 5, 2010
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The biggest ship ever to tie up at Port MacKenzie, too large to fit through the Panama Canal, has Mat-Su Borough officials excited.
The 754-foot-long, 125-foot-wide bulk coal carrier JP Azure's port call is part of a study for the Usibelli Coal Mine to test whether Alaska coal can be exported from Port MacKenzie to Japan. If the study is successful, seven to nine vessels per year could visit the port beginning in 2012, adding a second Alaska port for coal exports.
In the test run, 76,000 tons of coal was loaded in Seward and more than 1,200 tons from Port MacKenzie topped it off. The coal was delivered to the port from Healy.
