To the Editor:
Recently I traveled to Juneau to meet with Legislators to discuss the importance of the Alaska Marine Highway. Mayors and administrators from statewide coastal communities teamed up to highlight the importance of the system. We heard stories of food shortages, missed medical appointments, and economic hardship from around the state. I found that the message was received with a sympathetic ear, but our friends from non-maritime communities believe that the ferry system serves too few at too great a cost.
The Alaska Marine Highway serves many critical roles. Perhaps the most vital is the one not currently being addressed. The Alaska Marine Highway is the State's primary coastal emergency and disaster response tool. In fact, the MV Kennicott was designed for this purpose. During the 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill the MV Bartlett and MV Aurora were used as on-scene response vessels in Prince William Sound. Realizing the critical need, the MV Kennicott was built to be turned into an emergency response command center. And, it features a vehicle elevator capable of loading and unloading vehicles, equipment, and supplies without a ramp, regardless of tide levels.
The vessels have been called upon many times to assist in maritime searches. As recently as last summer, an AMHS vessel was able to save five mariners after their boat sank between Alaska and British Columbia.
AMHS routes cover 3,500 miles of coastline. Plain and simple, they are in areas when other boats aren't. Currently, marine radio Channel 16 has coverage gaps around the state. The only way to reach the Coast Guard is by relaying distress calls through another boat that is in an area with coverage. Many times the vessel on the other end of the transmission is an AMHS ferry.
Recently, the Coast Guard came to my hometown of Wrangell to discuss the community's capacity to respond to a major incident involving a cruise ship. Cruise ships with combined passenger and crew capacities of nearly 6,000 people are now coming to Alaska. The concern for the USCG is that a major incident could overwhelm local response capabilities. If the unthinkable happens, local communities will rise to the occasion to assist with rescue and emergency care of passengers. Given the limited infrastructure resources of small coastal communities, AMHS vessels and crew will be drafted to serve as emergency transportation, housing, hospital and meal locations.
The Marine Highway and coastal communities should be working together developing disaster response plans. Replacement vessels should be built with emergency response as an integral design element. The 1.1 million cruise visitors to Alaska deserve to know we have adequate response capabilities. A partnership with AMHS and the cruise industry should be explored.
It's time to recognize all the critical needs served by the Alaska Marine Highway. In doing so, perhaps we realize access to new partnerships and funding sources to share operational costs.
Mayor Stephen Prysunka
City and Borough of Wrangell, Alaska
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