Aleutians

The airline plans to hire experienced Ravn and PenAir pilots and use aircraft that can fly direct from Anchorage.

Freight shipments could be delayed until both of the town’s docks are inspected.

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake happened just after 10 p.m. about 75 miles south of Chignik.

The outbreak at Alaska Glacier Seafoods and another on board a factory fishing vessel that docked in Unalaska are causing the number of COVID-19 cases in Alaska to soar.

More than two-thirds of the crew of a huge factory fishing vessel docked in the Aleutian fishing port of Dutch Harbor has tested positive for COVID-19, local authorities announced Sunday.

The American Triumph is a 285-foot factory trawler, with an onboard processing plant. It had been at sea since June 27, fishing both offshore from Washington and Oregon and then moving to Alaska to fish for pollock in the Bering Sea.

“Right now, the levels are high enough that just one mussel could kill someone,” said Sarah Spelsberg, a physician assistant at Iliuliuk Family and Health Services, Unalaska’s clinic.

This is the first known paralytic shellfish poisoning fatality in Alaska since 2010, although serious illnesses are reported more frequently.

The sale to Float Shuttle has been cleared by federal bankruptcy court, the company says, and the new owners aim to have federal approval to resume flying in about a month.

The positive test result of a crew member came just hours after the vessel arrived in Unalaska.