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Post by plansea on Feb 14, 2010 21:27:50 GMT -8
Thanks, ferrynutseattle. I'll investigate further when I not so tired. I am uploading my Prince Rupert pictures on Pbase; www.pbase.com/portwelland/princerupertPrince Rupert and MV Malaspina were in the news in July, 1997, during the Canadian fishermans blockade. AMHS employees that were involved remember that well!
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M/V LeConte
Chief Steward
~ I believe in Ferries! ~
Posts: 147
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Post by M/V LeConte on Apr 10, 2010 5:13:44 GMT -8
On the lighter side... Found recently in Real Alaskan Magazine
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Post by fargowolf on Apr 10, 2010 16:20:06 GMT -8
EPIC WIN!!!! ;D
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Post by alaskanmohican on Jun 27, 2010 20:02:07 GMT -8
Alright, first time with photos, so here goes. These are photos I took of the Mal earlier today at Auke Bay in Juneau. (Just so everyone knows, I am no photographer, you have been warned.) All AMHS vessels have a different port of registration on their hulls, the Mals is Skagway, obviously. The Malaspina was in Auke Bay on her dayboat run between Juneau, Haines and Skagway.
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Post by alaskanmohican on Feb 17, 2011 22:19:55 GMT -8
Here are some photos of the Malaspina from my trip from Bellingham to Juneau back in the fall of 2008. The Mal in Bellingham. I love how close you can get to the ships at the Bellingham Cruise Terminal. Vessels load through the stern at Bellingham. This pic was taken from within my pickup, there was some raindrops on the windshield that created a few blury spots. Looking out towards Bellingham, lovely weather. Departing Bellingham. The solarium and a few tents. Unfortunatley I have lost the pics from the day sailing through BC , so the rest of the Mal are from Alaskan waters. Here we are docked in Ketchikan, it is raining, so a normal day there. A few deck shots, first looking forward. Same spot looking aft. The outside of the cafeteria area near the stern. The funnel. The solarium. Taken while docked at Wrangell, obviously the dock would be on the other side of the ship. Here is the only photo I can find of the inside passage through BC.
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Post by Name Omitted on Feb 17, 2011 22:43:27 GMT -8
This shot is just so weird now. The flat top to the funnel, the lack of a solarium, the lack of a visor on the bridge, and of course the lack a stretch in the middle, it looks like an incomplete kids toy.
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Post by lmtengs on Feb 18, 2011 16:21:48 GMT -8
Wow, she looks like she's from a whole different era! The funnel really sets it apart. I associate funnels that look like that with ships built between the 'late '30s and mid '50s. It's really great that AMHS has kept the same paint scheme on their ships more or less right from the start. Let's just hope that same doesn't happen with BCF's new paint scheme.... :-\
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Post by Low Light Mike on Feb 26, 2011 20:16:39 GMT -8
A video tour of the MV Malaspina.
- includes a glimpse of the MV Stikine or MV Prince of Wales, near the end of the video.
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Post by alaskanmohican on Feb 27, 2011 3:03:25 GMT -8
Those videos are some pretty neat finds there.
I think in that last video that the Inter Island Ferry seen is the MV Prince of Wales. It is just a guess on my part. I am mainly looking at the length of the name along the hull, not much to go on I admit.
Also the Youtube site for the video has the vid posted back in 2007, back then the Prince of Wales typically ran the Hollis to Ketchikan route while the Stikine ran the northern route from Coffman Cove - Wrangell - Petersburgh. The northern route suspended service back in '09 I think.
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Post by SS Shasta on Apr 16, 2011 10:27:01 GMT -8
Just sort of wondering what will happen to MV Malaspina once the new Alaska class vessel has been built? It seems certain that she will be replaced in her summers only day service between Juneau, Haines, and Skagway. She is just "not a good fit" for that route. I wonder if she will return as a second vessel on the Bellingham run where she is always a popular vessel? Will she continue to service that route during the slow fall-winter-spring season when the MV Columbia is usually in lay up?
BTW, she returns to service on Sunday on the Bellingham route after her annual yard/maintenance. She will serve that run for several more weeks because MV Taku will be late returning after a major overhaul in Portland, Oregon.
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Post by alaskanmohican on Apr 17, 2011 13:17:43 GMT -8
So to put it simply the answer to the question of the Mal's retirement is "don't know." AMHS has not set any specific timeframe for the Mal's retirement or any actual order to the older ferries order of retirement. There is a possibility that the Taku could be retired before the Malaspina, although odds are still good that the Mal will be first.
Ultimately AMHS is more concerned about getting the first Alaska Class built than they are with which ferry should be retired first. When the Alaska Class are finally built, the condition of the fleet at that time will be considered, then they will decide who goes and when.
Some factors to consider about any upcoming retirements:
- The Mal is the oldest, however what is her overall condition compared to the Taku? - The Taku is "younger" than the Mal, but only by a few months, so age of the two is really sort of a mute point, the real question again, what is her condition compared to the Malaspina? - While it is fairly certain that the first Alaska Class will be deployed on the North Lynn Canal run, AMHS feels that it will take two Alaska Class to make up for one mainliner condering the dayboat status of the Alaska Class. - Currently AMHS is operating with a fairly successful model of running four mainliners while we actually have five vessels considered "mainliners." - Regarding two ship Bellingham service, this summer we will have that with the Columbia and Kennicott, while the Ken is only stopping at Ketchikan and Juneau then heading across the gulf, traffic patterns have shown that the majority of Bellingham passengers are headed for these two southeast communities, towards the highways in Haines or Skagway, or across the gulf. While the passengers departing from Prince Rupert tend to be headed for communites like Kethcikan, Sitka, Juneau, etc. - Which vessels meet the SOLAS requirements for landing in Prince Rupert and which currenyly do not? What would it take, and especially cost, to bring any vessels not meeting SOLAS requirements up to par. - Another important question, what of the rest of the fleet? Namely the Tustumena. She entered service about a year after the Taku and Malaspina. The trusty Tusty regularly serves one of the most demanding and harshest routes in the system. If she were to suffer a major problem and need to be removed from service for a large period of time, there is no real adequate replacement for her. True the Kennicott is a capable ship in the gulf, however she is too large to enter some ports that the Tusty serves. AMHS needs a new Tusty and soon as the current Tusty is not getting any younger. In all likelyhood you will probably see a new Tustumena built before all three of the Alaska Class are built. AMHS wants to and needs to build an AK Class first, but they may move to build a Tusty replacement before completing the other two AK Class.
So there are alot of factors, most I haven't even touched on, that AMHS will consider when it comes to retirement of the older vessels, for now all anyone really knows, is that the goal is to build the first Alaska Class, then they'll go from there.
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Post by SS Shasta on May 1, 2011 15:22:42 GMT -8
Many thanks for the great response to possible vessel retirements from AMHS! Has there been any additional talk about the possible early retirements of the fast ferry vessels when or if the Alaska Class is actually built?
My problem with the Alaska Class vessels is their lack of cabins for passengers. I should hope that this situation is addressed by limiting their use to shorter day runs that are currently used for the fast ferry vessels along with the Le Conte class vessels. If the Alaska Class is actually designed to replace the famous and original Blue Canoes, I will quit using the system. Life is just too short to travel overnight without the benefit of a cabin.
BTW: When I mentioned this issue to AMHS during their public comment period for the Alaska Class, they completely ignored my suggestion. It was clear to me that they (AMHS officials) were locked into eliminating passenger cabins. They did not care what the public thought or wanted.
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Post by Name Omitted on May 1, 2011 19:24:59 GMT -8
I've spent a lot of time in the last few days reading the documents that were produced from the public process of developing the Alaska Class Ferry, available at www.dot.state.ak.us/amhs/alaska_class/docs.shtml. They go to great lengths to say that while the fleet does need revitalization, the first Alaska Class would not lead to a retirement, but to re-allocation of the Mal as a mainliner. They also take great pains to point out that actual fleet deployment is not within the purview of Elliot Design Group, and they are simply designing the ship. The plan is to have the first Alaska Class vessel take over for the Mal, and to keep the Fairweather on summertime day service between Sitka and Juneau. In one of the forums (I don't remember which), they mentioned that even with the Mal back on as a mainliner, there would likely still be only a single trip a week to Bellingham. Total ridership between one trip and two was not significantly different, and not worth the time or expense of sending more than one ship that far south. There is also a few comments about being able to provide more year-round service, which would imply to me that they are thinking that with the Mal as a mainline vessel again, they may have the capacity to better stagger maintenance layups to provide better winter service. We may not see that many more sailings, just more consistency throughout the year. Ultimately, they are looking at 3 Alaska Class to run the Lynn Canal, from Ketchikan to Prince Rupert and South-central, so no, no overnight trips. As for speculation as to which of the Sisters would be the first to be retired, there are, I believe, some places the Taku can get into that the Mat and Mal can no longer go as a result of their stretch. I don't know how big a deal getting into Angoon in overall system planning, but it may have a hand in when a ship gets retired. If the next "class" of ship that is designed ends up replacing the now larger Mat and Mal, they may need to keep the smaller Taku around a bit longer.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jun 18, 2011 19:57:16 GMT -8
Here are some more photos of other AMHS vessels we passed along the way... M/V Malaspina northbound south of Haines, Alaska - 7 July 2008. She is currently running a daily return trip between Skagway, Haines & Juneau. Another view of the MalaspinaAll photos by JST ©
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Post by SS Shasta on Jun 26, 2011 19:32:05 GMT -8
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Post by fpearson on Aug 1, 2011 21:45:00 GMT -8
I noticed in the winter sailing schedule that the Malaspina's last sailing is listed as December 2-4/2011 and nothing after that.
What is happening to the Malaspina? I hope it not retiring? I was really looking forward to sailing on a classic 50 year old ferry! I've done two round trips (skagway-bellingham return) on it, and it was a really nice ship to travel on. I did one trip on the Kennicott, and it simply didn't have the "classy" feel of the Mal. The Kennicott seemed very broken up in its layout and cramped.
Anyone know what is the current plans for the Mal?
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FNS
Voyager
The Empire Builder train of yesteryear in HO scale
Posts: 4,948
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Post by FNS on Aug 1, 2011 22:23:21 GMT -8
I noticed in the winter sailing schedule that the Malaspina's last sailing is listed as December 2-4/2011 and nothing after that. What is happening to the Malaspina? I hope it not retiring? I was really looking forward to sailing on a classic 50 year old ferry! I've done two round trips (skagway-bellingham return) on it, and it was a really nice ship to travel on. I did one trip on the Kennicott, and it simply didn't have the "classy" feel of the Mal. The Kennicott seemed very broken up in its layout and cramped. Anyone know what is the current plans for the Mal? She could be on her way to a winter vacation in a drydock then. Ferries have to have annual work done that requires them not to be on a printed schedule during those times.
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Post by Name Omitted on Aug 1, 2011 22:47:39 GMT -8
Throughout the "Alaska Class Ferry" project, we have been assured again and again that the plan is for the first AK Class to replace the Mal as a north Lynn Canal day-boat, so she could be better utilized as a mainliner. It would be... disappointing for that to change now that there is funding for the Alaska Class.
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Post by alaskanmohican on Aug 1, 2011 23:51:57 GMT -8
The Mal is scheduled for some work to be done on her this winter. Each winter the fleet gets reduced while vessels spend time in overhaul, last winter the Taku and LeConte went in for lengthy drydock periods, this year its the Malaspina and Aurora who will spend the majority of the winter months in drydock.
Expect to see the Mal back as the Lynn Canal dayboat next summer around May or June at the latest.
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Post by akchiefengr2012 on Dec 1, 2011 17:20:33 GMT -8
Probaly Homeland security /USCG looking to do some undercover covert investigation or a security check things that make you go HMMMM.
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Post by alaskanmohican on Jan 25, 2012 23:34:36 GMT -8
Here are some links to photos of a very young Malaspina. From her maiden voyage while docked in Juneau: vilda.alaska.edu/u?/cdmg21,7423 A view of the stern while at dock: vilda.alaska.edu/u?/cdmg21,7424 A bow shot while at Juneau: vilda.alaska.edu/u?/cdmg21,7425 At dock in Juneau: vilda.alaska.edu/u?/cdmg21,7426 From the Mals maiden voyage: vilda.alaska.edu/u?/cdmg11,522 Departing what I believe is Pier 48 in Seattle, this pic is likely from sometime between 1967, when AMHS began Seattle service, and 1972, when the Mal was cut in two and lengthened. vilda.alaska.edu/u?/cdmg21,12328 Finally a pic of the Mal docked at the original Auke Bay berth: vilda.alaska.edu/u?/cdmg21,13556 All pics are a part of the Alaska State Libraries collections.
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Post by WettCoast on Feb 19, 2012 10:50:38 GMT -8
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Post by alaskanmohican on Feb 20, 2012 15:10:52 GMT -8
Apparently there was a fire on-board the Malaspina which is currently in dry-dock in Ketchikan. Interestingly the fire occurred on February 7th. Link from Anchorage Daily News: www.adn.com/2012/02/20/2327407/welders-accidentally-started-fire.htmlThe various major newspapers around the State are linking back to an article in the Ketchikan Daily News, unfortunately you have to have a subscription to read KDN's article. My biggest surprise is that this is the first I have heard of this. So I admit that I do not always keep up with all the comings and goings of the ferries, and I could very well have missed any stories around the time of the fire. But after having done an internet search for stories regarding the fire, all I have found are the ones released today, on Feb 20, about a fire on Feb 7, just shy of 2 weeks later. Sorry about the rant, just seems like something worth knowing sometime around the time it happened. This really comes down to my little frustration with how AMHS doesn't announce half of what goes on, they just wait for someone to ask when they notice something. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On a side note thanks to White Coast for his pics of the various alaska ferries from the 80's.
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Post by Mike C on Dec 9, 2012 23:26:08 GMT -8
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Post by Low Light Mike on Apr 19, 2013 17:29:37 GMT -8
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