Port of Alaska

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Port of Alaska
Oblique aerial view of the Port of Alaska in 1999
Location of Port of Alaska in Alaska
Location
Country	United States
Location	Knik Arm, Cook Inlet, Pacific Ocean
Coordinates	61°14′25″N 149°53′10″W / 61.24028°N 149.88611°W / 61.24028; -149.88611[1]
UN/LOCODE	USANC[2]
Details
Opened	1961
Operated by	Anchorage Port Commission
Owned by	Municipality of Anchorage
Port Director	Stephen Ribuffo
Deputy Port Director	Sharen Walsh, P.E.
Director, Finance & Administration	Cheryl Beckham
Statistics
Annual cargo tonnage	4,704,374 (2020) [3]
Annual TEUs[A]	280848 (2006)
Website www.portofalaska.com

The Port of Alaska^[4] (POA) is a deep-water port in Anchorage, Alaska, with three bulk carrier berths, two petroleum berths, and one barge berth. The name was changed from "Port of Anchorage" to the "Port of Alaska" in 2017.^[4] It is an enterprise department of the Municipality of Anchorage. It is distinguished from other types of municipal departments largely because it generates enough revenue to support its operations without being a burden to Anchorage property tax payers, and it also pays a fee-in-lieu of taxes to help run city government.

The POA provides critical transportation infrastructure to the citizens of Anchorage and to a majority of the citizens of the State of Alaska both within and beyond the Railbelt. Seventy-four percent of all the waterborne freight and ninety-five percent of the refined petroleum products entering the state through Southcentral Alaska ports is shipped through the Port of Alaska. This includes 100 percent of the jet fuel supplied to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and approximately 66 percent of the jet fuel for Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.

The Port Director is appointed by the Mayor and reports to the Municipal Manager. There is a nine-person Commission, also appointed by the Mayor, responsible for promulgating the Port's terminal tariff. Despite its enterprise distinction, the Port acts as a standard municipal department with the Anchorage Assembly approving its annual budget, contracts, tariffs, and leases. Additionally, needed legal, financial and other day-to-day support are provided, for a fee, by the appropriate general government departments acting as an extension of the Port's staff. All Port operating activities are subject to municipal code.