The Alaska Railroad is currently looking for a partner to help update and expand its cruise facilities in Seward AK in order to meet the ever-increasing demand in Alaska's tourism travel industry.
On September 16, railroad officials issued a request for qualifications (RFQ) to start searching for a project developer for what is expected to be an approximately US$60-70 million undertaking.
The state-owned railroad intends to replace its passenger vessel, pile-supported Seward dock (1966-built) with a floating dock able to handle two ships (max LOA length 1080 ft each) simultaneously. The plan is for building a new cruise terminal building with max capacity 1500 passengers.
It is all intended to meet the needs of the railroad for moving cruise passengers from the port at the head of Resurrection Bay to other Southcentral destinations during the next fifty years.
Railroad officials expect construction to start late 2021 and go on into the fall of 2023.
According to the project schedule of the railroad, the current facilities would have to be available for use while the building was ongoing during the May-September cruise season.