Repairs caused delays for those expecting to ride the Alaska Marine Highway System last week, after M/V Columbia was held up in Juneau.
On its way south through Wrangell to Ketchikan and eventually Bellingham, Wash., the Columbia was not able to leave Juneau as scheduled on July 14. It eventually departed three days later.
“It took a few days while it was in Juneau to discover the problem,” explained Jeremy Woodrow, public relations officer for the Alaska Department of Transportation. “It had an issue with the starboard engines—one of its governors.”
While the problem was identified quickly, he said the fix was a complicated one. “We had to get a specialist,” Woodrow said, which contributed to the delay.
In addition to the three-day pause of service, subsequent sailings have also been cancelled as the Columbia resynchronizes with its scheduled route. It will be moving at a “bump and run” pace throughout the week, making quick stops to make up for lost time. The ferry will resume its regularly-scheduled service when it sets off from Ketchikan on its northward leg on Sunday.
The Columbia is one of the two ferries servicing Wrangell this summer, the other being the M/V Matanuska.
Under a draft schedule being considered
for winter, from October 2015 through mid-February 2016, Wrangell would be serviced
by the Matanuska and the Malaspina. The
former will sail from Prince Rupert, British Columbia, to Juneau, making stops each week on Monday morning, Tuesday evening, Friday morning, and early Saturday morning.
Taking over the Bellingham-Skagway route from the Columbia, the Malaspina would
arrive Wednesday mornings and Sunday afternoons.
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