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Unalaska has officially kicked off its first cruise ship season after two years of pandemic-related cancellations. The 459-foot Roald Amundsen docked in Dutch Harbor on Monday with about 350 passengers aboard.
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It was still dark at Unalaska’s Robert Storrs Small Boat Harbor, just before 5 a.m. on a fair spring morning. Normally, Dustan Dickerson and his three-man crew would be warming up the engine of the 54-foot Raven Bay by now so they could head out a few miles to haul and set cod pots, eat, sleep and repeat for a couple days before returning home. But on this mid-March morning, the crew was joined by three sleepy-eyed greenhorns: Corynn Lekanoff, Kaidon Parker and Anatoly Fomin. The three local teens were headed out for a day trip to get a glimpse into the life of Unalaska’s small boat fishermen. The trip is part of an outreach program led and started earlier this year by Dickerson, captain and owner of the Raven Bay. It’s meant to provide local youth with the chance to get on a boat and see what fishing is all about.
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The world’s attention is focused on Russia’s European border, but tensions are also building on the country’s far eastern border with the United States. And it's a conflict that’s been simmering for decades. Melting ice and thawing permafrost in the Arctic are opening previously inaccessible resources, like oil and minerals. That’s leading Arctic nations like Russia, the United States and Canada to focus increased attention on the region. And Alaska has a front row seat.
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The International Longshore and Warehouse Union announced in a statement Thursday that they won’t touch Russian ships or cargo. ILWU President Willie Adams said in the statement that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted the action. “With this action in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, we send a message that we unequivocally condemn the Russian invasion,” Adams said.
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The nation's only heavy icebreaker reached the southernmost navigable waters on the planet last month, setting a new world record. The nearly 400-foot U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker reached a position of 78 degrees, 44 minutes, 1.32 seconds south latitude off the coast of Antarctica. That’s about 500 yards from the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf, beating out the current Guinness World Record holder for the southernmost point reached by a ship, according to a USCG statement.
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The governor’s task force to review the effect of bycatch in Alaska fisheries is working to organize against its tight timeline for submitting recommendations to state and federal policymakers. It also has to balance commercial and subsistence interests.
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Fishermen in the Bering Sea reported spotting at least two North Pacific right whales about 80 miles from Unalaska earlier this month. Scientists say it's likely the first visual evidence of the highly endangered whales feeding in the Bering Sea in winter, and they’re urging fishing boats in the area to exercise caution.
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A fishing vessel ran aground in Unalaska Saturday morning. The 92-foot Kevleen K hit rocks near Little South America just before 10 a.m., according to port officials. The boat was pulled off the rocks by the F/V Amatuli about an hour later.
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The nation's sole heavy icebreaker arrived in Antarctica on Monday, following a nearly three-month trip from Seattle. The deployment marks the Polar Star’s 25th journey to the earth’s southernmost continent, supporting Operation Deep Freeze – an annual mission to resupply American scientists doing research near the South Pole, according to a Coast Guard statement.
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A U.S. Coast Guard cutter and its 140 crew members returned to California late last month after a nearly 80-day patrol in the Bering Sea. The 418-foot Waesche — a vessel longer than a football field — traveled more than 12,000 miles since departing Alameda in November. Its patrol spanned the West Coast, Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska.