Currently, Nome’s port can only handle ships of a certain size, but an infusion of cash through the Biden Administrations 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act means an expansion of the existing port could make the region more inviting for larger vessels.
A gold discovery here in the late 1890s brought 10,000 stampeders, all looking to get rich. Now, the melting ice caps have triggered another kind of stampede. Large industrial ships can travel through here faster — shaving days off transit times that would otherwise take them through the Panama Canal.
Anything that rides deeper than 20 feet under the surface of the water can’t dock. He said that’s why Nome needs to expand its port. Afrom the Biden Administration’s 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act means the basin could be nearly twice that deep in coming years. Erica Pryzmont runs the Pingo Bakery and Seafood House in Nome. She said she’s more concerned with hiring and keeping good staff on hand than she is with whether a port expansion in Nome will raise her bottom line in coming years.
A bright red Help Wanted sign hangs on her front door. While she’s looking for employees, others are looking for work. At 4.5%, the unemployment rate in Nome is higher than both the national and state averages. Declining sea ice allows more ships to pass through the Arctic. They are coming in larger numbers through the Bering Strait. With them, they bring more greenhouse gas emissions. At least 10% of ships utilizing Arctic waters today are burning heavy fuel oil, which if spilled, can solidify or remain floating for weeks in cold water.