Global supply chain shortages and delays have extended past grocery stores, car dealers and electronics to the Alaska Marine Highway System. The state ferry Kennicott was delayed coming out of winter overhaul.
Instead of returning to service last week, as had been scheduled, the ship was rescheduled to leave Ketchikan on Thursday for a trip to Juneau, Yakutat and Kodiak before sailing into Bellingham, Washington, to fully start its summer runs.
The Kennicott’s scheduled return to service was delayed due to supply chain issues, labor constraints and an unexpected mechanical failure, the state Transportation Department reported April 19.
The ship had been in the Vigor shipyard in Ketchikan for winter overhaul, maintenance and repairs. “One of the steering gear seals blew out,” Sam Dapcevich, department spokesman, said Friday. “Parts had to be located and an experienced technician was required for the repair.”
Supply chain issues caused problems even before the blown seal, with some items coming from Norway via Los Angeles.
It had been difficult to find the needed replacement gears and wires that hold the lifeboats ready for use and lowering, John Falvey, general manager at the ferry system, said earlier this month. Workers finally located what they needed in Norway, and after the parts landed in Los Angeles the gears and wires were airfreighted to Ketchikan, he said.
“We are really scrambling because of supply chain issues.”
The Kennicott is not scheduled to stop in Wrangell this summer on its Bellingham-to-Alaska runs.
As of Monday, the only state ferry on Wrangell’s summer schedule is the Matanuska. The Marine Highway System had been hoping to bring back the Columbia to Southeast Alaska after almost a three-year absence for repairs and to save money, but staffing shortages have kept the vessel tied up in Ketchikan.
As of Monday, the state still had not announced whether it had been able to hire enough staff to put the Columbia back to work or the ferry would remain out of action all summer.
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