Congressman Don Young speaks with constituents in Ketchikan in 2020. Young recently announced he’d introduce a bill to seize Russian yachts and commercial vessels. (Eric Stone/KRBD)

Alaska Congressman Don Young is among several U.S. House members trying to punish Russian oligarchs  following Moscow’s attack on Ukraine. The 25-term Republican says he’s drafting a bill to “authorize the seizure of Russian yachts and commercial vessels currently within the waters of the United States.”

Don Young says in a news release that America’s support for Ukraine should include moves to seize the assets of, in his words, “rich Russian oligarchs who continue living lavish lifestyles on mega-yachts, all while their thuggish friend Vladimir Putin reigns terror upon innocent, peaceful Ukrainians.”

“Putin and his elite enablers must be driven from all areas of global commerce and public life,” Young’s statement continues.

Young’s spokesperson, Zack Brown, says the forthcoming bill would require Russian vessels to be seized and auctioned off to benefit humanitarian efforts in Ukraine. He says that goes beyond a White House proposal unveiled in recent days to “freeze” Russian yachts and mansions.

“The language in the BOATS Act, ‘seize,’ is more forceful than the White House order to ‘freeze,’ which is a bit more vague in definition,” Brown said by email. “Congressman Young’s bill mandates the seizure of Russian vessels.”

One of Young’s House colleagues has suggested a bill to ban travel visas for Russian officials, oligarchs and their families. Others have proposed seizing Russian-owned villas, private jets and bank accounts.

Meanwhile, governors and local officials are trying to ban Russian vodka from state-run liquor stores, divest pension funds of Russian holdings and cancel sister city relationships.

Not uncommon in Alaska

Lists of yachts reportedly owned by Russian billionaires are circulating online. And as it happens, the hulking vessels are not all that uncommon to see along the Alaska coast.

Ketchikan Harbormaster Dan Berg says they’re generally too big to tie up at the city’s docks, but he recalls seeing Russian oligarchs’ boats from time to time — like a 390-foot superyacht that anchored off the coast of Ketchikan in 2014.

“The biggest one I can remember, the most memorable one, was the A, the yacht is called. And it’s a real kind of stealth-looking design with funny angles.” Berg said in a phone interview Monday. “When that one was here several years ago, it anchored up out in front of Ward Cove for several days.”

The motor yacht A near Ketchikan’s Ward Cove in 2014. (KRBD file photo)

The $300 million yacht A is currently in the Dubai area, according to MarineTraffic.com. As of 2018, it was owned by Russian industrialist Andrey Melnichenko. The fertilizer magnate also reportedly owns a sailing superyacht — which is also named A.

While there is currently a superyacht moored off the tip of Ketchikan’s Pennock Island, the 164-foot Jackpot is not thought to be Russian-owned. SuperYacht Times says the vessel was delivered to two unnamed New Jerseyians in 2019.

The harbormaster in Juneau, Matthew Creswell, says a few Russian yachts stick out in his mind.

“The last one I remember was either 2018 or 2019 — pre-COVID, of course — real large, 300-foot yacht that was in town early in the season,” Creswell said in a phone interview Monday. “I think the owner came in for a bear hunt or something.”

He says he can’t quite remember the name. But the Juneau Empire newspaper’s archives feature a photo of the 292-foot superyacht Here Comes the Sun, reportedly owned by Georgian-Russian oilfield service tycoon Alexander Dzhaparidze, in Auke Bay in 2018.

A Russian billionaire is visiting #Juneau on his $150 million luxury yacht, Here Comes The Sun. It's currently docked at Don D. Statter Memorial Boat Harbor in Auke Bay.

📸 by Angelo Saggiomo | Juneau Empire pic.twitter.com/kgKr5ZUV1A

— Juneau Empire (@JuneauEmpire) June 19, 2018

That one’s currently docked on a Spanish island in the Mediterranean.

Ownership often obscured

But the Juneau harbormaster says it’s not always easy to tell what megayachts belong to Russian oligarchs and which belong to regular run-of-the-mill billionaires.

“Lots of times, we don’t know exactly who the real owner of a boat is — because they’re owned, most of the time, through corporations,” Creswell said.

And they don’t exactly make it known that they’re Russian. The Here Comes the Sun — and, for that matter, both the yachts named A — none of them fly Russian flags. All fly so-called “flags of convenience”: Here Comes the Sun flies a Cayman Islands flag. The motor yacht A flies a British flag, and its sailing counterpart claims Bermuda as its home country.

Even so, Young’s spokesperson, Zack Brown, says he’s confident in the military and intelligence community’s ability to identify Russian individuals attempting to enter U.S. waters.

Proposal would go beyond yachts

Young’s proposal wouldn’t just require the seizure of pleasure yachts — the Dean of the House’s statement lists Russian commercial vessels as targets for seizure.

The port director for the City of Unalaska’s International Port of Dutch Harbor, Peggy McLaughlin, says the world’s No. 1 seafood port doesn’t see too many yachts.

“We occasionally see (Russian-flagged) research and survey vessels. There are a certain amount of fuel tankers that come through from time to time,” she said by phone Monday.

She says a Russian vessel was just there on Friday as part of an international effort to track the impact of climate change on Pacific salmon.

“It actually docked after the conflict had broken out,” McLaughlin said. “It was highly scrutinized by Homeland Security — their purpose, their crew members did not get off the vessel.”

Fortunately for the salmon expedition, Young’s spokesperson says the Congressman’s forthcoming bill “would not include non-commercial research vessels.”

Alaska Public Media’s Liz Ruskin contributed reporting from Anchorage.

The post Don Young floats bill that would seize Russian pleasure yachts and merchant ships appeared first on KRBD.

This still from a video shot by an Ocean Ranger aboard the Seven Seas Mariner shows the Coral Princess adrift after it lost power on the evening of August 10, 2019. (Photo by Mark Farley/Ocean Ranger)

A Princess Cruise Lines ship lost all power to its engines as it was maneuvering away from Juneau’s docks last summer. The Coast Guard fined the cruise line for not immediately reporting the close call, and the agency recently discussed the case for the first time.

A state cruise ship monitor shot a series of short videos from the deck of a nearby cruise ship. The Ocean Ranger’s video and subsequent written report offer details on how the 19,600-ton Coral Princess drifted without power in Juneau’s Gastineau Channel.

The Coast Guard’s investigation found contaminated lube oil in one of the ship’s diesel generators caused it to break down as the Coral Princess was getting underway.

Coast Guard Lt. Nicholas Capuzzi was the lead investigator for the August 10, 2019 incident. He says when a generator fails, the ship’s power management system is supposed to keep the remaining generators from being overtaxed.

“One of the watch officers had neglected to properly configure the generator ahead of time,” Capuzzi told CoastAlaska on Monday.

That meant the surge in demand knocked out the ship’s second diesel generator as well.

“So both generators were offline and as an electric propulsion-driven vessel there was no longer any power to the propulsion motors,” he explained.

Steven Chouinard – an Ocean Ranger cruise ship monitor – shot this photo from the Coral Princess’ deck after it lost power and began to drift toward the Seven Seas Mariner (pictured) moored at Juneau’s AJ Dock. (Photo by Steven Chouinard/Ocean Ranger)

It was about a quarter to nine — an hour before high tide — with light winds and calm seas. Even so, without propulsion, the Coral Princess began drifting toward a smaller cruise ship, the Seven Seas Mariner, moored to an adjacent dock.

As the crew prepared to drop emergency anchor, Capuzzi says a gas-turbine generator was brought online nearly 10 minutes after the blackout took out the engines.

“And that provided enough power for them to regain propulsion,” he said. “And then they eventually brought the non damaged generator back online as well.”

The ship’s crew was required to tell the Coast Guard about the failure immediately. But that didn’t happen until 10 p.m. — more than an hour after the 8:47 p.m. blackout. By then, the ship had already departed for Skagway.

Capuzzi says the delay in reporting the mishap was a violation of regulations. Princess Cruise Lines — a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation — paid a $5,000 fine on February 14.

CoastAlaska first inquired about the incident last October. And followed up with a Freedom of Information Act request in January. But it was only this month that the federal agency agreed to speak about the findings of its investigation which it completed in January.

The records request remains unfilled by the agency’s Washington D.C. headquarters, without explanation.

Princess Cruise Lines representatives did not respond to phone or email messages seeking comment.

This story has been updated to correct a photo credit.

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Passengers walk a downtown Juneau dock where three cruise ships are tied up June 11, 2017. A little more than 1 million people rode ships to Alaska that summer. By 2019, the number will be 19 percent higher. (Ed Schoenfeld/CoastAlaska News)

The number of cruise ship passengers visiting Alaska will jump almost 20 percent over the next two years.

Port cities need to plan for the infrastructure needed to support that many people.

One industry idea could change community control of the fees cruise ships pay.

Cruise lines are bringing more and more tourists to Alaska.

Passenger numbers topped a million for the first time in almost a decade last summer.

Cruise Lines International Association Alaska President John Binkley said they’ll continue to go up.

About 1.31 million passengers are expected to arrive in 2019, 19 percent more than last summer, according to projections Binkley released at the recent Southeast Conference Mid Session Summit.

“Sometimes there’s new ships that are coming into the market,” he said. “Sometimes there’s larger ships that are replacing smaller ships. And sometimes they’re adding to the shoulder seasons to have more voyages.”

Starting this summer, the larger ships will really be larger.

The Norwegian Bliss will carry up to 4,000 passengers, plus crew, starting this June.

The Ovation of the Seas will come in the following year, with as many as 5,000 passengers per sailing, double the capacity of some ships already traveling the region.

Cruise Lines International Association Alaska President John Binkley talks about industry growth Feb. 14 in Juneau. (Ed Schoenfeld/CoastAlaska News)

Binkley said the growth requires more infrastructure.

“It’s not just one community having the facilities to be able to handle that ship,” he said. “You have to have at least three ports to be able to have a ship like that be able to deploy to Alaska,” he said.

Only Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway can handle such vessels.

They’re the biggest Southeast ports and they get the largest share of passenger fees.

Binkley said those total about $45 million a year, statewide. He said pooling that would allow other cities to boost their industries, too.

“We could be building a brand new dock each and every year in new communities around Southeast Alaska if we worked together and said … what’s the best way to take these dollars that we have and utilize them to grow the industry and have everybody in Southeast share and benefit from the industry,” he said.

It’s not a formal proposal, but the cruise association has already sued the capital city, challenging local control of how such funds are used.

Juneau City Manager Rorie Watt agrees more regional planning is needed.

But he takes a different approach.

He invited other community leaders to join the Southeast Cruise Port Association, which held its first meeting during the Mid Session Summit.

“I’m not under any illusion that we’re all going to cede local control of our communities to each other,” Watt said. “But I think we can get together on some very broad ideas.”

Those include improved communication and regional readiness for changes, such as quickly growing passenger numbers.

The industry’s share-the-wealth idea is of interest to Russell Dick, CEO of the Huna Totem Corp., which owns the Icy Strait Point attraction.

The renovated cannery and mile-long zip line completed its first dock two years ago, which brought more ships and visitors.

Dick said it’s looking toward construction of a second dock, which would support further growth.

“It’s all about tour capacity, having the infrastructure in place to handle the increase in ships and ship passengers,” he said. “And for us, that’s quite a bit. That’s a lot of people coming through.”

The cruise business is a significant part of Alaska’s visitor industry.

A cruise association report said ships, passengers and crew members spent about $1 billion during last summer’s season. And the passengers made up more than half of all visitors to the state.

Editor’s note: This report was updated to reflect cruise ships also brought a million passengers to Alaska in 2009.

The post Can Southeast share the wealth of tourism growth? appeared first on KRBD.

A panel of industry leaders took up timber, mining and other topics Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2018, during the Southeast Conference Mid Session Summit in Juneau. Josh Kindred of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, right, spoke against the Stand for Salmon initiative. (Photo by Heather Holt)

Industry representatives are telling Southeast leaders they need to oppose the Stand for Salmon initiative and related legislation.

The measure, which is being challenged in the courts, would create stronger protections for Alaska’s salmon streams and rivers.

During the Southeast Conference Mid Session Summit in Juneau, power company and oil industry officials told about 100 regional officials Tuesday that the initiative would hinder development.

“What’s implied is that currently in Alaska, salmon or anadromous fish habitat isn’t protected,” said Josh Kindred, environmental counsel for the Alaska Oil and Gas Association. “And nothing could be further from the truth,”

He said the initiative and somewhat similar legislation would require unnecessary environmental reviews and its new regulations would be unenforceable.

“One of the fundamental problems here is that if this passes, you are basically giving the state five years of litigation,” Kindred said. “Given all the ambiguity in the proposal, all the gaps, all the contradictions, the state is going to be sued on this time and time again, because there is no clear path for the state to implement this without getting sued.”

That’s not the case, backers said. They said the Stand for Salmon initiative would update a 60-year-old law that does not give enough priority to Alaska’s fisheries.

The Alaska Power Association told the conference it also opposes the proposals.

Spokesman Michael Rovito said the legislation, House Bill 199, could hold up new and updated hydropower projects.

“It contains a grandfather clause to where if you already have an existing project, as long as you don’t make any significant changes, you fall under your past permitting regime,” Rovito said. “But as soon as you make a significant change, you can fall under this new major permit.”

Sealaska Corporation also is concerned about the additional limits on development.

CEO Anthony Mallott said it requires too much regulation. The regional Native corporation is Southeast’s largest private landowner.

Initiative opponents have organized a well-funded campaign through the group Stand for Alaska.

The business leaders urged the Southeast Conference to adopt a resolution opposing the Stand for Salmon initiative.

It’s already considering such a resolution, which will likely be approved.

The post Industry leaders say salmon initiative would hinder development appeared first on KRBD.

The ferry Columbia ties up in Ketchikan in 2012. It’s running late this week after a mechanical problem. (Photo by Ed Schoenfeld/CoastAlaskaNews)

Rough weather and a mechanical breakdown are affecting Alaska Marine Highway service in Southeast Alaska.

The ferry Columbia is sailing a modified schedule through much of the week. That’s because the system’s largest vessel was sidelined for much of Jan. 7 due to a mechanical problem.

Alaska Marine Highway spokeswoman Aurah Landau said the ship won’t skip any port calls.

“It’s running about 12 hours late. It will be on a modified schedule through Thursday. It’ll resume its normal schedule with a northbound schedule leaving Bellingham on Friday,” she said.

The Columbia sails weekly roundtrips from Bellingham, Washington, to Skagway. It stops in Haines, Juneau, Sitka, Petersburg, Wrangell and Ketchikan along the way.

The problem occurred as the Columbia sailed from Bellingham to Ketchikan. Landau said what’s called a steering-indicator rod stopped working.

“That’s the piece that when the wheel gives the command to the rudders to move, through the electrical system, tells the steering mechanism that the rudder has moved,” Landau said.

She said a technician had to fly into Ketchikan to make the repairs.

This problem took less than a day to fix. That’s much faster than a previous breakdown.

The Columbia returned to service in late October after being sidelined for about a year. That came after a propeller struck a submerged object. Parts weren’t available and had to be built from scratch.

The Columbia carries around 500 passengers and more than 130 vehicles. It also has about 100 cabins. 

Weather is impacting another marine highway ship.

The small ferry LeConte will skip its Jan. 9 sailings between Juneau and Haines, due to 50-knot winds and high seas predicted for upper Lynn Canal, part of its route.

Officials say it will resume scheduled sailings with a trip to Kake that night.

The LeConte carries fewer than half as many passengers as the Columbia and about a quarter as many cars and trucks. It has no staterooms.

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