Ketchikan’s berths 1 and 2 sit empty in this file photo. (KRBD file photo by Leila Kheiry)

Ketchikan’s City Council looks poised to narrow down the list of potential private operators for the city’s downtown cruise ship docks.

Three bidders submitted proposals earlier this year.

That would leave Ketchikan-based Survey Point Holdings and British cruise port operator Global Ports Holding as the two remaining contenders. Global Ports Holding submitted its bid alongside Anchorage consulting firm ConRAC Solutions in a partnership they’re calling “Ketchikan Port Solutions.”

Survey Point Holdings owns Ketchikan’s Berth 4 and leases it to the city under an agreement that dates back to 2006. It’s also the managing partner in a consortium that owns Skagway’s White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad.

City officials have indicated the next steps would include a financial analysis of the two proposals, public presentations and negotiations with the remaining two proposers. A final deal would take two successive votes by the City Council.

This week’s Ketchikan City Council meeting kicks off at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Ted Ferry Civic Center. It’ll be broadcast on local cable channels and live-streamed at the city’s website.