Petersburg AK (Mitkof Island Alaska)

Petersburg is a small port town and the only settlement on Mitkof Island (Southeast Alaska). Petersburg Borough was created in 2013, encompassing both Petersburg and Kupreanof (on Kupreanof Island) - plus vast areas (mostly uninhabited) that stretch to the border with Canada and to the southern boundary of the Juneau Borough. The town has population of around 3,000.

Petersburg AK is located on the island's north end, where Wrangell Strait and Frederick Sound meet. Petersburg is also located almost halfway between Juneau AK (at 190 km / 120 mi to the north) and Ketchikan AK (at 180 km / 110 mi to the south). In 2015 Petersburg had a population of 3,180 people on a total area of 119.2 km2 (46 mi2).

Port Petersburg AK

Private yachts and small cruise ships (accommodating up to 250 passengers) visit Petersburg from May through September. It has a high-quality tourist experience, with few of the tourist peaks or crowds experienced by the neighboring Sitka, Ketchikan or Juneau communities. This is partially by design and a result of the natural difficulty of landing big ships in Petersburg and traveling through treacherous waters at Wrangell Narrows, south of town.

In 2011, Seth Morrison together with a host of famous skiers filmed their unusual helicopter skiing experiences in the mountains near the town. Another well-kept secret in the area is sport fishing.

• Port Petersburg AK is visited mostly by small cruise lines vessels. Among the regular companies with ships stopping here in the summer are American Cruise Lines, Alaskan Dream Cruises, Fantasy Cruises, Lindblad-National Geographic.
• In July 2017, the privately owned ship MS The World booked a stop here once.
• During season 2017, the port had scheduled a total of 112 cruise ship visits.

In February 2018, Petersburg AK passed a new cruise passenger fee for ships visiting the borough. The charge is similar to Juneau's, which in 2017 prompted a lawsuit from CLIA. The shipping companies are charged based on the vessel's passenger manifest, and each time it docks in Petersburg harbors.

• The new fee of USD 5 per passenger per ship call was scheduled to take effect in January 2019. Ships with capacity fewer than 20 passengers and vessels without passenger cabins are not charged.
• The new fee was named "marine infrastructure fee", instead of the previously proposed "marine passenger fee".
• The fee money (around USD 30,000 per year) will be used for infrastructure development projects helping the cruise travel industry.

Petersburg AK cruise terminal