Repairs to damaged mooring dolphins at the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal will take longer and cost more than originally expected, now estimated at over $2 million, dock officials said. Until repairs are made, only one ship, not two, can use the dock at a time.
The dolphin off the north end of the Sitka Sound dock was damaged May 9 when it was struck by the Radiance of the Seas as it was maneuvering nearby. The damage reduced the number of available docking spaces from two to one, said Chris McGraw, manager of the privately owned cruise terminal.
Repairs were originally expected to take three weeks, based on an initial assessment of damages. The repair contractor, Turnagain Marine, of Anchorage, arrived within five days, and determined the damage was more extensive and would take longer, McGraw said.
“Now we’re at four weeks, and looking at the end of June (for completion),” he said. “It’s still a little up in the air.”
Repairs are estimated to cost more than $2 million, because it turned out all four of the dolphin pilings were damaged and needed extensive repair.
The result of the longer repair time is the expected cancellation of 17 ships at the cruise terminal on days when two ships were scheduled.
“We’ve lost eight so far,” McGraw said. Some ships can anchor offshore of downtown Sitka and lighter passengers into Crescent Harbor but others, including the Celebrity Eclipse and Royal Caribbean’s Radiance of the Seas, have canceled their Sitka stops until repairs are made, McGraw said.
No major damage and no injuries were reported in the May 9 accident.
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