The Alaska Marine Highway System has put out its summer 2022 draft schedule for public comment, with two potentially big changes from this year: The possible return to service of the Columbia, the largest ship in the fleet, and the possible return to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, after a two-year absence from the port.
If the Columbia returns, it would give the state ferry system two sailings a week out of Bellingham, Washington, to Southeast Alaska ports.
With the Columbia, Wrangell could get two northbound and two southbound ferry calls a week, double its level of service with only the Matanuska this summer.
Without the Columbia, the draft summer schedule for Wrangell shows only the weekly stops by the Matanuska — no other ferries would call on the community.
Other than the possible return of the Columbia and service to Prince Rupert, the summer 2022 schedule looks pretty much the same as 2021, with the Malaspina still kept out of work due to costly repairs needed before it could resume sailing, and the state’s two newest ferries, the Hubbard and Tazlina, tied up.
The Tazlina is being kept out of service to save money, and the Hubbard will be in the shipyard for installation of crew quarters so that it can accommodate longer voyages.
If the state restores service to Prince Rupert one week per month, as indicated by a placeholder slot in the draft schedule, the Matanuska would skip Bellingham that week and use the extra time to make an additional round trip through Southeast, including stopping in Wrangell.
Whether the Columbia comes back from its layup in Ketchikan depends, in part, on finding 100 crew members to staff the vessel, said John Falvey, general manager of the Alaska Marine Highway System.
The draft schedule says the ship will operate May 11 through Sept. 14, with weekly sailings to Southeast from Bellingham, “pending crew availability.”
The Columbia, currently in overhaul in Ketchikan, is being used to house crew from other ferries brought to the shipyard for work, saving the state the cost of hotel rooms, Falvey said.
Its return to active duty depends on whether “staffing challenges, a current issue worldwide, can be overcome,” the Transportation Department said last week.
The state ferry system this year is understaffed and has been asking crew to work double shifts to keep the vessels operating while the state tries to hire more workers, especially stewards for cabins and galleys. Ferry systems in Washington state and British Columbia report similar staff shortages.
The Columbia, built almost 50 years ago in a Puget Sound shipyard, has 50% more space for cars and trucks than the second-largest ship in the fleet, the Matanuska, which is sailing this summer between Bellingham and Southeast.
If the Columbia comes back to work, the Alaska Marine Highway System would operate the Matanuska northbound out of Bellingham on Wednesdays and the Columbia on Fridays.
The Columbia would stop in Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, Juneau, Haines and Skagway, catching Sitka on its southbound run, Kerri Traudt, the system’s vessel schedule coordinator, said Tuesday.
The state Department of Transportation on Aug. 18 released its draft ferry schedule for May through September 2022 — much earlier than in recent years.
The Legislature and governor agreed this year to appropriate 18 months of funds for ferry operations, rather than the usual 12-month budget, so that the marine highway could prepare its schedule further in advance, making it easier for travelers to plan ahead.
Travelers will be able to book tickets for next summer as soon as the final schedule is adopted, likely this fall.
Written comments on next year’s summer schedule are
due by Aug. 31, by email at dot.amhs.comments@alaska.gov, or by fax at (907) 228-6873. A teleconference to hear additional comments and consider adjustments to the Southeast schedule is planned for 10 a.m. Sept. 2. The toll-free number is 1-515-604-9000, access code 279613.
The ferry system anticipates it will start accepting reservations this week for the fall/winter 2021/2022 schedule, which starts Oct. 1, Transportation Department spokesman Sam Dapcevich said Friday.
Reader Comments(0)