Former University of Alaska-Fairbanks defenseman Xavier Jean-Louis has transferred to Ferris State, he announced via social media this past week.

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A product of Miami, Fla., Jean-Louis spent this past season with the Nanooks, scoring two goals and adding two assists for four points in 26 games. Over the course of his two-year NCAA career, Jean-Louis has seven points in 39 games.

Prior to joining the NCAA, Jean-Louis played junior hockey in the CCHL (Carleton Place Canadians) and NAHL (Austin Bruins).

With Jean-Louis heading to Ferris State, the Bulldogs will be getting a towering defender who knows how to use his size and reach to his advantage. While he is not known for his offensive game, Jean-Louis has shown improvement in that area since joining the NCAA and does a good job shutting down opponents in the defensive end.

Make sure you bookmark The Hockey News’ NCAA Page for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns and so much more.

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The Alaska Railroad this week approved a plan for construction of a new $137 million cruise ship port in Seward that is expected to open in time for the 2026 season.

In a special meeting Thursday, the railroad’s board voted to approve the purchase of the soon-to-be-built dock that can handle larger ships than the 60-year-old dock it will replace.

The vote will allow the railroad to enter into agreements with the project developer, The Seward Company, and other partners in the project, Meghan Clemens, a spokesperson with the railroad said. The paperwork should be signed this month, she said.

The deal, including debt, will be supported by an unusual, 30-year commitment with anchor tenant Royal Caribbean Group, according to a statement from the railroad. Royal Caribbean will have preferential berthing rights, but other cruise companies can also use the port.

[With commitment from Royal Caribbean, Alaska Railroad advances $137M plan to revamp Seward dock]

“It’s a much-needed and highly anticipated project for our community,” said Kat Sorensen, city manager in the town of 3,000. “The cruise ship terminal in its current state is near the end of its useful life. To continue to see the economic impacts that tourism has in our community and our state, this terminal is definitely needed.”

The city of Seward owns the local power company and has applied for a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to pay for a shoreside electricity project, which would allow cruise ships to turn off idling engines when they’re in port, she said. That would reduce carbon emissions at the new port, she said.

[A dock project in Seward will bring even bigger cruise ships to Southcentral Alaska]

Under the plan, Anchorage-based Turnagain, a marine construction company, will build the port.

The railroad will purchase it upon completion.

“This new facility supports our commitment to deliver incredible experiences to our guests while also developing a state-of-the-art facility and community hub,” Preston Carnahan of Royal Caribbean said in the statement.

The effort won’t be delayed by the governor’s veto this week of a bill that would have provided legislative approval to issue bonds to help pay for the project, said Mickey Richardson, head of the Port of Tomorrow, which owns The Seward Company.

The bill was one of five adopted by the Alaska House after the constitutional deadline for the end of the legislative session. The governor had said the bills could face legal challenges, leading to his veto.

The railroad had already been pursuing alternative sources of funding in case a veto occurred, Clemens said. The railroad will use a commercial loan, along with approval from the Legislature in 2022 for issuing $60 million in bonds, to provide money up front.

Richardson said the primary cost of the project, including debt and maintenance over the decades to come, will be covered by revenue from Royal Caribbean’s long-term commitment.

Alaskans won’t bear expenses for the project, he said in an interview.

“It’s a clear win-win for the community of Seward, the railroad and the travel industry,” he said.

The existing passenger dock, owned by the railroad, must be replaced, said Bill O’Leary, chief executive of the Alaska Railroad.

The new facility will include a 68,000-square-foot terminal building. A 150-foot transfer span will connect cruise travelers to an Alaska Railroad train and other ground transportation.

The 750-foot, two-berth floating dock will be the largest floating pier in the state, Jason Davis, president of Turnagain, said in the statement.

Construction on the terminal is scheduled to begin this autumn after Seward’s cruise season ends, Richardson said. Construction of the pier will occur next autumn to avoid disrupting next summer’s cruise season.

• • •

The report argued that the Chinese bombers, with a range of about 6,000km (3,728 miles), could not make round trips from China to the Bering Sea, and thus was likely to have taken off from a nearby Russian airport.

“Therefore, it is very likely that the H-6K was deployed from a base in Russia in order to reach the Arctic,” the report stated.

The centre observed Russian airfields with a high-resolution optical satellite and they confirmed that two large Y-20 transport aircraft of the Chinese air force were deployed at the Anadyr airfield.

“They are believed to have come to support the H-6K,” the report said.

Fu Qianshao, a mainland analyst, said the Y-20 could also provide support for other warplanes in their long-distance operations.

In November 2022, the Y-20U tanker joined patrols with the H-6K and J-16 fighters in a China-Russia joint patrol.

Exactly how the Chinese H-6Ks went beyond their range to approach Alaska in the most recent patrol is still unknown.

Zhang Xuefeng, a mainland military analyst, was quoted in an article in the state-owned Global Times last month as saying July’s patrol marked “the farthest distance that a Chinese bomber has ever carried out a strategic cruise mission from mainland China”.

Zhang also said it was “very likely” that the Chinese bombers took off from Russia.

There has been no public information about recent deployment of the Y-20 from a Russian airfield.

Both countries confirmed the joint patrol without giving details about their routes.

Chinese defence ministry spokesman Zhang Xiaogang said at a regular briefing last week that it was the eighth strategic patrol conducted by the two countries.

The Chinese and Russian bombers were detected and intercepted off the coast of Alaska by the North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad) on July 24.

It was the first report of a Chinese H-6 flying into the ADIZ – an international airspace that acts as a buffer zone around sovereign territory. The ready identification of all aircraft is required within the ADIZ.

A rough map released by a pro-Kremlin blogger, the Rybar military channel on Telegram, also suggested the bombers from the two countries took off together from Anadyr airfield, Newsweek reported on Tuesday.

If so, it would mark the first time assets from both air forces have shared a base of operations, the report said.

China and Russia continued to strengthen their military cooperation with regular joint patrols and exercises.

Also last month, multiple Chinese military warships were spotted off the coast of Alaska, the US Coast Guard announced.