| Dutch Harbor marine facility gets makeover |
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| Sunday, 07 October 2007 13:49 | |||
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KODIAK -- An ultra-modern, multiuse marine facility will soon bring a new way of doing business to Dutch Harbor. Click READ MORE to read MORE Under construction are a 900-foot dock, an enclosed seafood-sorting atrium and a huge cold-storage building. The new facility will replace decaying wood pile docks and buildings that date to World War II. 'We looked at this and said things need to be done better at our nation's number one fishing port. You simply cannot continue doing business across these docks and especially without a modern cold storage,'said Per Brautaset, vice president of DH Ports, builder and operator of the $150 million facility. The company has a 100-year lease with Western Pioneer for the property at Dutch Harbor Bay. A 30,000-ton capacity cold storage will allow more time for companies and individuals to add value to their catches. More important, the storage will provide them with more shipping options. 'It will allow some breathing room for a company to offload their products and wait a few weeks to figure out where the best markets are. Now many fishing companies are at the mercy of whatever transportation companies come in,'Brautaset said. The cold storage will also help relieve the drain on electric power by the more than 1,000 seafood freezer vans in lots dotting the island that are kept running around the clock. 'One of the biggest problems is the high energy costs from always running on peak power. It affects the entire community,'Brautaset said.DH Port's new docks will finally give a breather to boat captains that must now jockey for space and services. Most boats arrive laden with boxes of frozen fillets or crab that must be stacked outside awaiting transport to world markets.At the DH Ports facility, the boats will be able to offload directly into an enclosed sorting atrium. One of the biggest complaints by seafood customers in Europe and Japan is the condition of the packaging.'Many buyers have very tight quality controls, and all of a sudden they see these products coming from Dutch Harbor that look like hell. The product on the inside is top quality and the best in the world. But it is totally deficient in the way it is presented,'he said.DH Ports couldn't come at a better time, said Shirley Marquardt, Dutch Harbor/Unalaska mayor. 'To have a group of private investors make such an enormous investment in our community is very exciting. We continue to be short on dock space for fishing vessels and transport ships for much of the year, and with the planned (oil) activity in the Chukchi Sea and the North Aleutian Basin, we will need every available foot to continue to serve all interested parties,'Marquardt said. The DH Ports marine facility plans to be open for business in January 2009. http://www.adn.com/money/industries/fishing/story/9358669p-9272322c.html
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