Alaska Marine Lines raises Western, Arctic Alaska barge fuel surcharge to 16.5 percent

Alaska Marine Lines raised its fuel surcharge on barge freight to Western and Arctic Alaska to 16.5 percent from 11.5 percent on Oct. 19, according to two customer notices dated Oct. 9 and signed by pricing director Margretta Grace.

The surcharge applies to shipments to, from and between Bethel, Dillingham, Naknek, Nome and Kotzebue in Western Alaska, and Barrow, Kaktovik, Point Hope, Point Lay, Prudhoe Bay and Wainwright in Arctic Alaska, along with the villages served through those ports. The carrier says it serves more than 65 villages in the region.

The new rate is the highest the carrier has posted for these lanes. Its history table begins Dec. 29, 2024, at 7.5 percent.

The notices say the company monitors fuel prices daily and adjusts the surcharge when necessary, but they give no reason for this increase. The carrier describes the surcharge as a pricing mechanism based on fuel costs, fuel-related capital costs, the nature of its services and competition, meant to recover fuel-related costs and "position us competitively in the market."

The rate has shifted repeatedly. On March 19, Alaska Marine Lines announced it would raise both lanes from 9.0 to 11.0 percent on April 5, then revised that to 13.5 percent on March 27, citing "continued escalation and volatility in fuel costs." On June 25, it cut both lanes to 11.5 percent, effective June 28.

The increase comes at the end of the shipping season. The carrier runs Western and Arctic service April through October, when ice forms in the Bering Sea and along the western coast. Its last scheduled Western Alaska voyage left Seattle Sept. 4.

The new rate still trails the carrier's other regions: Hawaii at 31.5 percent, Dutch Harbor, the Aleutians and Kodiak at 31.0 percent, the Yukon at 29.5 percent, Central Alaska and Cordova/Valdez at 29.0 percent, and Southeast Alaska at 22.5 percent. None changed with this increase, though the carrier has announced Dutch Harbor, the Aleutians and Kodiak will rise to 32.5 percent on Nov. 15.