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)
The biggest ship ever to tie up at Port MacKenzie, AK, 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.