With the rusty Matanuska out of service pending repairs, the Kennicott scheduled for tie-up due to lack of crew and the Tazlina in the shipyard to add crew quarters, the state ferry system’s draft summer 2024 schedule is limited by the number of vessels in service and looks about the same as this past summer.
The Columbia would make a weekly northbound stop in Wrangell on Sundays and a weekly southbound visit on Wednesdays on its run between Bellingham, Washington, and Southeast Alaska.
The marine highway system released its draft schedule Dec. 5 for May 1 through Sept. 30, 2024, and is accepting public comment through Dec. 18.
The proposed schedule is familiar, with the ongoing crew shortage likely keeping the Kennicott out of service, as was the case for much of 2023.
There would be no service again next summer to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, unless the Alaska Marine Highway System can add enough crew to fully staff the Kennicott. The state has been plagued the past three years with an inability to hire a sufficient number of new crew to keep the fleet fully operational.
Based on past operating schedules, if the ferry system is able to staff up the Kennicott it could run between Bellingham, Juneau, Yakutat, Whittier, Chenega Bay, Kodiak and Homer, perhaps including some limited service to Prince Rupert.
“We would really like to add the cross-Gulf service,” said Sam Dapcevich, spokesman for the marine highway system. “It’ll take higher (crew) numbers.”
The Alaska Marine Highway System regularly called on Prince Rupert for years until canceling service in 2019. It resumed limited runs in the summer of 2022, and nothing since then.
The Matanuska is out of service until the state decides — if it decides — to spend what could be tens of millions of dollars to repair wasted steel and other problems to restore the ship to service. That leaves the Columbia, the only other mainline vessel, to handle the long run from Puget Sound to Southeast Alaska. The Columbia is not certified to serve Prince Rupert.
The Hubbard is scheduled to run between Juneau, Haines and Skagway six days per week from mid-May through September. The LeConte would provide service between Juneau and the northern panhandle towns of Hoonah, Angoon, Kake and Gustavus.
The Aurora would serve Prince William Sound, while the Tustumena would provide service to Gulf of Alaska communities extending out to the Aleutian Islands once a month.
Public comment on the summer schedule can be sent via email to dot.amhs.comments@alaska.gov. A virtual public meeting to hear comments on the draft schedule for Southeast Alaska is set for 10 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 19, via Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83955593196
Reader Comments(0)