A lawsuit against MARAD, filed by Alaskan city, finally receives a court date
The Port of Alaska has sued the US Maritime Administration (MARAD) seeking compensation and relief.
By Michael McGrady, Maritime Direct Americas & Pacific Correspondent
ANCHORAGE — The City of Anchorage, Alaska, and the Port of Alaska (owned as an enterprise of the city government) sued the US Maritime Administration for the agency’s role in a botched expansion of the deep-water port from several years ago.
The Alaska Journal of Commerce reports that the trial will be heard in a virtual session before the United States Court of Federal Claims.
Bob Owens, an assistant municipal attorney for the Anchorage Department of Law, said that the participants in the trial are expected to attend virtually throughout the course of the next two weeks.
MARAD, according to Owens and attorneys for the city, owes $320 million for its role in the port expansion project that was started way back in the fiscal year of 2003. However, the project was deemed a failure in 2012.
Members of Congress and state lawmakers have pressed the US Justice Department to resolve this legal crisis as soon as possible.
