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The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities announced Friday it will be delaying the implementation of its upcoming unaccompanied minor policy for Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) services. The new policy would no longer allow children under the age of 18 to travel unaccompanied on the ferry system. Currently, travelers aged 12 to 15 can show a note from their parents or legal guardians allowing them to travel alone, and no restrictions are in place for those aged 16 and older. Exemptions to the new policy include...
Alaska Governor Sean Parnell announced Saturday that Ketchikan-based Vigor Alaska will construct two new day ferries for the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS). Construction of both vessels is scheduled to begin in October, and completion is estimated to take four years. Each vessel will be a 280-foot, "roll on–roll off" type passenger ferry, capable of carrying 450 passengers and up to 60 vehicles. The ships will cost $101 million to construct. “I’ve lived in Ketchikan all my life,” said Ketchikan shipyard worker Norm Skan. “It’s such an hon...
The proposed Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) schedule for next year’s summer season has been placed on the service’s website for public review. The public comment period is an opportunity for communities in Southeast to review and comment on the proposed schedule, particularly as to how planned events might be better accommodated. The proposed schedule can be accessed through a link on the homepage at FerryAlaska.com or at www.dot.state.ak.us/amhs/share/schedule/considerations.pdf. Written comments will be accepted before Sept. 23 via ema...
PETERSBURG – Representatives from the Alaska Department of Transportation (ADOT&PF) gave a public presentation on their long-range transportation plan for Southeast Alaska last Wednesday. The presentation was followed by a public comment period, which centered largely on ferry service and the Kake Access project. ADOT&PF’s draft Southeast Alaska Transportation Plan (SATP) is a 20-year plan for the region which recommends projects for roadways, airports and ferry service. Regional trends, current priorities and projects, as well as mai...
The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities is seeking public input on the winter and spring 2014/2015 Alaska Marine Highway System ferry schedule. A view of the schedule can be found at dot.alaska.gov/amhs/share/schedule/consideration.pdf. Written comments will be accepted prior to April 5 via email at dot.amhs.comments@alaska.gov and by fax at 907-586-8365. A teleconference to hear comments and consider adjustments is scheduled Tuesday, April 8, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. for Southeast schedules. The meeting will be held in...
The Wrangell Ferry Terminal will be out of commission for three days in June to replace a portion of the underside of the ramp leading to the vessels when they are berthed. The closure is set for June 18-20, affecting ferry traffic during those days by prohibiting use of the dock for Alaska Marine Highway System ships. According to Jeremy Woodrow, a communications officer for the Alaska Department of Transportation, the work involved includes a complete replacement of critical infrastructure...
Alaska’s state-owned ferries are scaling back costs by getting rid of the naturalist program on all but one of the 11-ship fleet this year. State officials say the program may eventually be brought back, but for now, the plan is to replace them with computerized equipment and brochures on the Alaska Marine Highway System, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. In light of Alaska’s declining revenues and an unclear financial future, the state’s various departments were asked to bring expenses down by eliminating items that do not a...
The Alaska Marine Highway System is celebrating 50 years of service to Alaskans this year. In light of this, the Wrangell Sentinel is looking back at the stories that shaped the development of the system, which began with one ship in 1963 and has grown to eleven vessels serving more than 350,000 passengers a year. It all began with the M/V Malaspina, when the first ship in the newly formed system docked in Ketchikan on Jan. 21, 1963. Three days later the vessel docked in Wrangell for the first...
The MV Taku will be available as a hotel ship in Wrangell for the Chief Shakes Tribal House rededication event set for May 2-4. The ferry will arrive at the city dock in Wrangell midday on Thursday, May 2 and will be available to provide nightly accommodations starting at 4:00pm. The vessel will depart Wrangell on Sunday, May 5, and checkout will be required by 11:00 a.m. No food or beverage service will be available on the vessel and the service schedule of the Taku will be held in a restricted status within the AMHS reservations system so...
With less than four months remaining until the rededication of Shakes Island and the Chief Shakes Tribal House, the Wrangell Cooperative Association is at a make-or-break moment when it comes to housing a group of 1,000-plus guests and dignitaries who will visit the island May 3-4. According to WCA Board of Directors member Ken Hoyt, a number of spaces have been filled, primarily by reserving nearly every room in the Stikine Inn, Diamond C Hotel, and Alaskan Sourdough Lodge, as well as a number of bed and breakfasts and private homes. It’s s...
If estimates of expected attendance hold true, the population of Wrangell could increase by 25 percent or more in May 2013 – during the rededication of Chief Shakes Tribal House. The numbers of expected visitors, which has been calculated by Tis Peterman of the Wrangell Cooperative Association, could equal between 700-1,000 participants from across Alaska and the lower-48. Because of this projection, the hunt for housing so many visitors to the borough is on with a vengeance. “So far we...
PETERSBURG — The Alaska Marine Highway ferry Matanuska crashed into the face of the Ocean Beauty Seafoods dock in Petersburg at 1:00 p.m. Monday. The M/V Matanuska was negotiating a turn in Wrangell Narrows prior to the accident as it prepared to dock at the Petersburg ferry terminal on its southbound trip. Heavy damage was sustained to the face of the Ocean Beauty dock. Dock piling were broken and the hydraulic crane was dangling over the water. In addition to the dock damage, the second f...
The Petersburg City Council on Monday voted in favor of supporting the Alaska Marine Highway (AMHS) Bellingham run, and the replacement of current ferries. According to the resolution, AMHS has been serving Alaska’s coastal communities with vehicle, freight and passenger transportation for about 50 years. As in the hard-link road and rail system throughout the interior of Alaska, the ferry system relies on State and Federal funding. But also similar to the roadway, it will never be s...
To the Editor: To: Jeanne Lindley Thank you for writing to Governor Sean Parnell regarding your concerns about the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS). AMHS is a vital part of the transportation infrastructure of Alaska. In regard to your frustrations over public notices, AMHS posts meeting announcements in local bulletins and on their website http://www.dotstate.ak.us/amhs/, well in advance of public meeting dates. Additionally, you also expressed concerns about management of AMHS and transportation challenges in Southeast Alaska. Governor...
To the Editor: We the people, for the people and by the people? Really: Aren’t “We” the people of this great land? Then tell us who appoints the administrators in the offices of AMHS? They are certainly not men of knowledge regarding the AMHS ships. They seem more like “Let’s try these ships” or you “pat my back and I’ll pat yours” and “if these don’t work, we’ll tie these up and just order some more. Who is this man that knows that these Alaska Class ferries are definitely going to work where others have failed? And who is he that he can say w...
To the Editor: I went to see our Senator and Representative in Ketchikan last week to ask that they “investigate” the offices of the MHS and perhaps find out who is undermining our Alaska ferry system. You know, our highway here in Southeastern Alaska. Both of the men were out, probably campaigning for re-election, but their secretaries were more than gracious and assured me that both men were aware of the problems in AMHS administration and promised to give them my letters. They then suggested that I go to KTKN radio station and tell them abo...
To the Editor: Did you know that our disadvantaged people are being discriminated against right here in our own hometown? They have actually been asked not to come into certain eating establishments as it upsets their patrons. There people are people who have been in accidents, in which they may have lost an eye, a leg or had a head injury, a stroke or they may suffer from dementia or Alzheimer’s. Many of these things could cause a person to laugh loudly at something only he or she may be thinking about or they might just start to cry s...
Re: Alaska Marine Highway, and the future of our ferry system (DOT, yearly “Scoping Plan” report, Wrangell Sentinel Oct. 27, 2011.) I didn’t know that DOT had a yearly “scoping plan.” I have lived in Alaska since 1963, when our ferries first started. I was here, when they enlarged our fleet so as to get our ferry service to our Indian villages, and our logging camps, so that all of us who lived in outlying towns would have access to our ferry system. I worked for the ferry system for many years, and I watched as DOT did less and less maintenan...
The Alaska Department of Transportation presented its 2011 scoping report update for the Southeast Alaska Transportation Plan on Tuesday, Oct. 18 at the James and Elsie Nolan Center in Wrangell. The purpose of the meeting, which has also been held in other communities across Southeast, was to inform the public about six possible outcomes of ADOT’s long-range planning for transportation issues in the region. The alternatives presented range from no change in the current plan to the d...
