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Decades ago, the Alaska Marine Highway System was a pillar of the state’s transportation network. Alaskans and visitors alike piled onto ferries running up and down the Inside Passage for a trip that was a little adventurous, a little luxurious — Dining rooms! Staterooms! Bars on board! — and close enough to the cost of driving through Canada that they were a strong contender for traveler dollars. Fast forward to the present, and the system is in grave danger of falling to pieces. Its only operating vessel until early March is the MV Lituy...
Today, Alaska’s ferries are one step closer to receiving badly needed funds. Members of the budget subcommittee working on the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities’ budget voted to add $18.7 million into the AMHS budget. Rep. Louise Stutes (R-Kodiak) is a member of the DOT budget subcommittee, chair of the House Transportation Committee, and serves on the Alaska Marine Highway Reshaping Work Group. Representative Stutes said, “Shelves in grocery stores are empty. Alaskans are missing medical appointments. Mothers are turni...
With the M/V Matanuska going out of service last week, ferry service via the Alaska Marine Highway has completely shut down. According to a press release from the Alaska Department of Transportation, new issues have been found with the ferry's reduction gear system. The Matanuska, at the time of writing, is being towed to Ketchikan for repairs. "AMHS is aware of travel needs for upcoming school and community tournaments in March and is exploring options for alternative service in the event...
Stedman should put ferries first To the Editor: As residents of the towns near the proposed Kake Road, we firmly oppose it. The $40 million raised for this "road to nowhere" should instead support the return of the Alaska Marine Highway System to our coastal Alaskan communities struggling without ferry service. It is one thing to waste taxpayer money on a project no one is asking for, and another to do so while claiming funding for vitally needed and popular ferry services doesn't exist. This...
Alaska Marine Highway System The Alaska Marine Highway System--the Nation's only marine National Scenic Byway and All-American Road--dates back to 1948, when the Chilkoot Motorship Lines began in Haines. The enterprise was purchased by the territory of Alaska in 1951 to promote transportation and business; and in 1959, voters approved $18 million to expand the fleet and build new docks. The M/V Malaspina's first Ketchikan stop actually caused a traffic jam of on-lookers. In time, the system...
The M/V Matanuska will be out of service through March 1 to address issues with the reduction gear system, according to a prepared statement released late Feb. 5 by the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. The ferry will travel to the Ketchikan shipyard where it can be inspected in a dry dock to determine if further repairs are needed. The Alaska Marine Highway System has refunded fares for passengers that have already booked travel onboard the M/V Matanuska and has assisted with...
I am almost a lifetime SE Alaskan and my wife and I are current residents of Wrangell. I moved to Ketchikan in 1943 when I was ten years old and have lived and worked in almost every major Southeast Alaska city including Ketchikan, Juneau, Wrangell and Sitka and played a lot of high school basketball in Petersburg. I continue to invest in institutions that provide services in each of those communities including Haines and Skagway. I cite these facts because I know how sensitive SE residents are to suggestions offered by well-meaning persons...
Vital role of AMHS not addressed 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...
The borough assembly approved four community projects totaling $63.7 million to be included on the priority list for 2021. The list will be forwarded to the state legislature in hopes one or more of the projects will be funded by the State of Alaska. The projects could also be funded through federal or special grant programs the improvements may qualify for. At the advice of Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht the assembly kept the list short, since lean state budgets will mean few, if any, project...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — With an aging fleet, fewer riders and major budget reductions, the Alaska Marine Highway System is feeling the hurt. Six of the state's 11 ferries have been taken out of service as of Dec. 9 and service to coastal communities has been reduced multiple times. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have said they believe ferries are a vital economic engine for Southeast Alaska, but how to keep that engine running is up for debate. One proposal, or at least the idea of it, has gotten the attention of a number of stakeholder g...
January Following the shutdown of the U.S. government on Dec. 22, 2018, the U.S. Coast Guard stated it would continue offering essential services. The borough assembly approved $600,000 for a new baler. The USCG located debris from an overdue medivac aircraft that had three people onboard that was due to land in Kake several nights before. A decrease in air cargo coming into Petersburg affected the timely arrival of residents' packages after the retirement of Alaska Airlines' combi 737-400...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — More than half of Alaska’s ferries will be out of service amid a lack of funds to repair the vessels, transportation officials said. The state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities announced this week that the Aurora and the LeConte will be pulled from service after inspections revealed required steel replacement, the Juneau Empire reported Friday. About 24 employees of the Aurora were already notified they would be relieved of duties effective Jan. 14, officials said. The Aurora is set for long-term lay...
People in Petersburg know her has their school bus driver or driver's education teacher, but on Friday evening Hoopie Davidson was this year's tree lighter during the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony. Davidson was born in Petersburg, but moved to Squaw Harbor on Unga Island in third grade with her family to catch crab. The family then moved to Kodiak in time to experience the Good Friday earthquake of 1964, an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.2 that hit near Prince William Sound. Later...
WRANGELL - Mayor Steve Prysunka travelled to Washington D.C. last week to speak before the Senate Committee on Energy and National Resources. He was invited to speak on behalf of the National Association of Counties, an organization that works to advocate county priorities in federal policymaking. Prysunka spoke last Thursday, Nov. 21, on the importance of the Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILT) Program and Secure Rural Schools (SRS) funds. "We're somewhat unique because we're actually the third...
After thorough inspections of the 45-year-old M/V LeConte and the 44-year-old M/V Aurora, the Alaska Marine Highway System is moving forward with repairs for the LeConte. Engineers inspecting the ships determined that both will require extensive steel replacement. The Aurora will require 20% more steel to be replaced and locations are more challenging because of associated electric, plumbing, and hydraulic lines. Repair work on the Aurora will be more expensive and will take longer. Estimates fo...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Department of Transportation is considering how to act on a study addressing issues within the Alaska Marine Highway System, including an aging fleet and decreased ridership, officials said. The study conducted by research firm Northern Economics evaluated 11 options for overhauling the network of vessels that moves people, vehicles and goods, The Alaska Journal of Commerce reported Wednesday. The ferry system reaches 35 communities spread over more than 3,000 miles (4,828 kilometers) from the Aleutian I...
JUNEAU – Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) was recently informed that the M/V LeConte is in need of more extensive repairs than originally anticipated. AMHS budgeted $1.2 million for overhaul of the 45-year-old LeConte, but after an extensive survey of the steel hull, it was determined that considerable repair work is needed. The additional repairs are estimated to cost $4 million. Repair work has temporarily stopped on the LeConte. On Nov. 4, AMHS will bring the M/V Aurora into the Vigor shipyard dry-dock in Ketchikan for annual overhaul and...
William K. Neumann aka 'Swampy Creek Bill' passed away peacefully October 5, 2019 of recently discovered bladder cancer at home in Petersburg in his newly acquired and beloved electric reclining chair surrounded by the echoes of the countless memories in his "Great Story Telling Room" in the house he and his late wife Fran designed and built in 1978 with close friends. Bill was a unique and rare individual who was blessed with a remarkable and full-life surrounded by countless friends and... Full story
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A coastal Alaska fishing town will soon be cut off from vehicles with the closure of its ferry service because of state budget cuts, officials said. The Alaska Marine Highway System will temporarily end service to Cordova following funding cuts by Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Alaska’s Energy Desk reported Monday. The budget cuts approved by the state Legislature are expected to end winter trips to Cordova by the ferry service beginning Friday. There are no roads to the community about 150 miles (237 kilometers) sou...
KODIAK, Alaska (AP) - An Alaska ferry system has released a new schedule that stops service to and from Kodiak Island in the winter, officials said. The Alaska Marine Highway System announced the schedule Thursday, but it does not list ferry operations between Jan. 11 to April 24, The Kodiak Daily Mirror reported Thursday. Each year, transportation stops for a period of time for vessel examination and mechanical maintenance. But this year the ferries are in overhaul simultaneously because of a...
The Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) is ending service to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, effective Oct. 1, 2019. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is requiring AMHS to secure a Canadian law enforcement presence to protect CBP’s personnel in Prince Rupert while inspection tasks are performed. All avenues for local law enforcement were pursued, but AMHS was not able to secure the staff necessary to fulfill this requirement. The new requirement specifies a Canadian law enforcement p...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska’s governor has vetoed additional funding for the state’s ferry service that was placed in the budget by the Legislature, a report said. Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed $5 million Monday that was added to the Alaska Marine Highway System budget by the Legislature, CoastAlaska reported Monday. The Legislature previously cut $43 million from the ferry system’s budget. A fiscal note attached by the governor’s office called the budget item “premature” ahead of a $250,000 study commissioned to reshape the ferry sys...
With approximately 400 members of the Inlandboatmen's Union going on strike last Wednesday, July 24, operations of the Alaska Marine Highway System have come to a halt. Without ferry services, many people across the state, especially in Southeast Alaska, found themselves stranded. In the communities of Wrangell and Petersburg, many people are facing disruptions to their schedules, families, and work. WRANGELL: Several of Wrangell's children and adults attending a church camp in Juneau were...
Juneau, Alaska (AP) - A spokesman for a union representing workers for the Alaska ferry system says the union has gone on strike. Hundreds of ferry workers went on strike Wednesday after failing to reach agreement on a contract with state negotiators. Robb Arnold, a spokesman for Alaska's Inlandboatmen's Union of the Pacific, said the strike began Wednesday afternoon after a meeting with state officials did not yield an agreement. He said the union remains open to a deal. "Unfortunately, we had...
Senator is wrong To the Editor: Last fall the USFS held public meetings on the repeal of the Roadless Rule. The consensus was overwhelming public support in favor of the Roadless Rule as it now stands, from Alaskans who live, work and play here. Since the last 10 years the Roadless Rule was formalized for Alaska, many local guiding tours and a new a line of smaller, more personal cruise ships now rely on Roadless Rule lands, besides the mega ships that bring over a million passengers a year to...
