Nome Welcomes Cruising: The Inaugural Deep Water Arctic Port in the U.S. Set to Accommodate Cruise and Military Ships

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In 2016, the city of Nome in northwest Alaska, better known for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and its 1898 gold rush history, played host to the Serenity. This colossal cruise ship, carrying around 1,000 passengers, was the largest vessel to traverse the Northwest Passage at the time. Anchoring offshore due to Nome’s diminutive port, its affluent passengers had to take additional small boats to reach land.

However, as climate change diminishes Arctic sea ice and reveals more shipping routes across the globe’s apex, the number of tourists visiting Nome is on the rise. The key challenge lies in the lack of berthing spaces for large vessels. Despite smaller ships being able to dock, half of the dozen expected this year will have to anchor offshore.

An anticipated $600 million-plus expansion project aims to transform Nome, home to 3,500 residents, into America’s first deep-water Arctic port. Set to be operational by the end of the decade, this development is not just for larger cruise ships, catering to up to 4,000 passengers, but also cargo ships supplying the region’s 60 Alaska Native villages, and military vessels responding to the presence of Russian and Chinese ships in the Arctic.

This prospect elicits excitement from Nome’s business owners and officials, but also concern from others worried about the impact of increased tourism and marine traffic on the environment and animals critical for Alaska Natives’ subsistence.

Alice Bioff, an Inupiaq resident of Nome, believes that the expansion will support the local economy and give indigenous artists access to visitors for cultural exchange. In 2016, she greeted the Serenity’s passengers as a tour guide. This experience sparked her entrepreneurial spirit and led to the creation of her own line of waterproof jackets styled like traditional Alaska Native kuspuks. Today, she sells these from her gift store, Naataq Gear, along with the works of about 20 other Alaska Native artists.

With studies showing cruise ship passengers typically spend around $100 per day in Nome, city manager Glenn Steckman anticipates the expansion to encourage guests from larger ships to extend their stay, experiencing more of the city, its tundra, and its history.

The city has experienced six of its 10 warmest winters this century alone, and the Bering Strait shipping lanes have seen their usage increase significantly, with ship transits rising from 262 in 2009 to 509 in 2022. “We’re going to be the first deep-draft Arctic port but probably not going to be the last,” said Nome Mayor John Handeland.

The port expansion, expected to be completed in three stages and approximately doubling the port’s current size, has received $250 million in federal infrastructure funding and an additional $175 million from the Alaska Legislature. This expansion will enable seven to ten ships to dock simultaneously, providing ample space for large cruise ships, cargo vessels, and all U.S. military vessels except aircraft carriers.

U.S. Rep. Dan Sullivan, an Alaska Republican, stated that the extended port would be the centerpiece of U.S. strategic infrastructure in the Arctic, alongside military resources buildup.

However, some residents, like Inupiaq native Austin Ahmasuk, have reservations about the expansion, citing the displacement of areas traditionally used for subsistence hunting or fishing due to the port’s original construction. “The Port of Nome is development purely for the sake of development,” Ahmasuk stated.

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More about Nome deep-water Arctic port expansion

• Nome, Alaska
• Climate Change Impact on the Arctic
• U.S. Military in the Arctic