Anchorage's supply line runs through 35-foot tides, winter ice, and one narrow inlet.
Cook Inlet carries roughly half of everything Alaska consumes to the Port of Alaska in Anchorage — against some of the most extreme tides in North America.
Container ships and barges on scheduled runs, fuel tankers serving the refinery and terminals, and the Homer fishing and charter fleet at the inlet's mouth.
Extreme tidal ranges, seasonal ice, and sparse AIS shore coverage make Cook Inlet one of the hardest places in the country to see vessel traffic — exactly why we're expanding receivers there (see live coverage).
Anchorage–Homer and Anchorage–Kodiak show the working traffic; the Southcentral region aggregates it all.