Sitka's Coast Guard cutter dock clears review; work set for 2026

Sitka's Coast Guard cutter dock has cleared a key environmental review, and construction on the waterfront is set to begin in 2026 and run through 2028.

The dock will homeport Fast Response Cutters in Sitka. Building it means pile-driving, which sends underwater noise into waters used by humpback whales, killer whales and Steller sea lions — so before starting, the Coast Guard needed a federal marine-mammal permit, a routine requirement for in-water construction. The National Marine Fisheries Service granted it Aug. 3, finding the noise would have a negligible effect on the animals and would not harm subsistence uses, provided the Coast Guard follows monitoring and mitigation measures. To keep the noise down, the Coast Guard switched its design from steel piles to quieter plastic ones.

The permit allows the work to disturb humpback whales up to 59 times across as much as a year of pile-driving, and regulators noted the project may require consultation with Native Alaskan communities whose use of the waters and marine mammals could be affected.

The Coast Guard awarded the waterfront contract to Whiting-Turner Contracting Company. The Coast Guard is expanding across Alaska, with new cutter homeports also planned for Kodiak and Seward.