Surprise: Coast Guard Abandons Plans for Port's Coveted Pier 46
The Seattle and Tacoma ports fought the U.S. Coast Guard’s original plan to acquire up to 53 acres of the long-vacant Terminal 46 for new patrol vessel berths. But once environmental reviews were finished, the two ports expected the Coast Guard would move quickly to buy at least some of the Duwamish River property.
So it was a surprise recently when the Coast Guard reversed course and said it was giving up on buying new berth space on T-46, for now. The service cited port economic impacts, environmental costs, and tribal fishing-rights conflicts. Instead, the service may look elsewhere to homeport its new ships, potentially taking millions of dollars in wages and maritime economic activity with them.
Just last week, the service announced the first two of a new fleet of Arctic Security Cutters will be based in Alaska. Those vessels are scheduled for delivery in 2028. The decision does not affect the Coast Guard’s plans to upgrade its World War II-era Base Seattle at Pier 36, just to the south of T-46, in what is calls the “the largest civil engineering and environmental remediation project in the history of the Coast Guard.”
The Coast Guard plans to invest $323 million at Pier base for modernization, dredging, and construction of berths for three new Polar Security Cutters and the icebreaker Healy. The base also houses the Puget Sound regional vessel-traffic control, regional joint terrorism center, crew housing, and other support activities. In its decision, the Coast Guard said Pier 36 is badly in need of improvements but decided that that “substantial expansion of Base Seattle would result in significant impacts to environmental, economic, and Tribal treaty resources,’’ and therefore would seek no additional property for vessel docks.
https://www.postalley.org/2026/04/27/surprise-coast-guard-abandons-plans-for-ports-coveted-pier-46/