Alaska Ferries - general thread

[Name Omitted]

Slight reduction in service system wide, an additional 7th day of Lynn Canal service, and tariff increases.  Nothing shocking or surprising.

As an aside, since the word tariff comes from the name of the Spanish town that first started charging warfage fees, shouldn't the word itself be capitalized?

[Name Omitted]

Report: Ferry system should become state-owned corporation


Essentially, the State would own the hardware and operate it through a state-run corporation.  This would free the AMHS from frequent changes in strategic direction that happen in a political body, and give the new corporation direct negotiating power with its labor groups (as opposed to all such negotiation going through he Alaska Division of Administration).  The State has successful experience with such a model in the form of the Alaska Railroad.  A quick look at the report (which I have not had time to read) indicates that unlike the Railroad, DOT would retain ownership of the vessels so as not to endanger access to federal capitol funds.

As an aside, having not yet read the report, I suspect that this would allow for gift shops and bars to return to the AMHS.  Our State Constitution forbids dedicated funds not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution, and so all revenue from such activity went directly to the States general fund for re-appropriation.  A bartender on board was paid for as an AMHS staff member, and the proceeds from the bar did not go into the AMHS fund.  There was, therefore, no financial benefit to the AMHS to seek such additional revenue.  This would not necessarily be true in the case of a state owned corporation.

Anyhow, the full report can be found at:

AMHS GOVERNANCE STUDY: Phase 1 Final Draft Report

[northwesterner]

www.npr.org/2017/06/06/531243619/in-southeast-alaska-the-ferry-system-is-a-lifeline

As I posted on my Facebook: "Wonderful piece. AMHS needs operational reform, as well as funding support. The stories told inside, of sports teams traveling overnight to their game, people taking the ferry to Juneau to go shopping and heading back the next day, etc, were stories I told as a tour bus driver over a decade ago. My passengers loved being able to contrast SE Alaska life with the conveniences of their own life."

[Neil]

Jun 13, 2017 20:12:58 GMT -8 northwesterner said:

www.npr.org/2017/06/06/531243619/in-southeast-alaska-the-ferry-system-is-a-lifeline

As I posted on my Facebook: "Wonderful piece. AMHS needs operational reform, as well as funding support. The stories told inside, of sports teams traveling overnight to their game, people taking the ferry to Juneau to go shopping and heading back the next day, etc, were stories I told as a tour bus driver over a decade ago. My passengers loved being able to contrast SE Alaska life with the conveniences of their own life."

What a great perspective. Thanks for posting that. Ferries are a lifeline to so many communities, and if we value the mosaic of society that incorporates human settlements big and small, conveniently located or otherwise, we need to recognize the importance of connection on a personal and economic basis. 

[Name Omitted]

I've not been posting, beacuse frankly it's been so depressing.  Tusty's missed sailings, Columbia's late return to service, by beloved Taku... the possibility that the whole system may get laid up on July 1.

BUT, progress is moving forward on designing a ferry system for the future.  If you want to be a part, go to www.amhsreform.com.

[Starsteward]

Nov 23, 2016 7:24:28 GMT -8 Name Omitted said:

Report: Ferry system should become state-owned corporation


Essentially, the State would own the hardware and operate it through a state-run corporation.  This would free the AMHS from frequent changes in strategic direction that happen in a political body, and give the new corporation direct negotiating power with its labor groups (as opposed to all such negotiation going through he Alaska Division of Administration).  The State has successful experience with such a model in the form of the Alaska Railroad.  A quick look at the report (which I have not had time to read) indicates that unlike the Railroad, DOT would retain ownership of the vessels so as not to endanger access to federal capitol funds.

As an aside, having not yet read the report, I suspect that this would allow for gift shops and bars to return to the AMHS.  Our State Constitution forbids dedicated funds not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution, and so all revenue from such activity went directly to the States general fund for re-appropriation.  A bartender on board was paid for as an AMHS staff member, and the proceeds from the bar did not go into the AMHS fund.  There was, therefore, no financial benefit to the AMHS to seek such additional revenue.  This would not necessarily be true in the case of a state owned corporation.

Anyhow, the full report can be found at:

AMHS GOVERNANCE STUDY: Phase 1 Final Draft Report

    The financial/operational plight of the AMHS system has been quite well documented on this forum over the past couple of years, which many of our forum members
    have perused with varying levels of interest. Much has been made of the governance model on which BC Ferries operates and the pros, cons, debates etc. as to the
    quality/value of service this ferry service meets or fails to meet the needs of coastal British Columbia communities.

    'Kevin's' reporting over the past couple of years and his total angst at the possibility of the entire system being shut down this July 1st jolted me into a 'full steam
    ahead' curiosity mode yesterday leading me to read and re-read the entire 61 page Phase 1 Final Draft Report AMHS GOVERNANCE STUDY. My eyeballs are still
    bleeding this morning but I now have a much better understanding of the historic mismanagement of the AMHS system and the plan(s) to right the system on a
    sustainable long-term basis. 
    Reading and fully comprehending the pros and cons of the various models of governance documented in this report make for very interesting reading and debate, not
    only as AMHS endeavours to rebuild but also perhaps to better understand the strength and weaknesses of the BCFS model, facets of which we forum members share
    a multitude of the good, the bad and the ugly issues.
    While the companies' governance models referred to in this report would appear to deliver positive economic results for those companies and the populaces they serve,
    choosing a particular 'model' on which to restructure an organization such as AMHS is challenging because of the varied characteristics of the Alaska marketplace.
    (And we thought the BCFS operates in a challenging marketplace?). I confess I was very 'knowledge challenged as to the difficulties the AMHS system faces 
    operating as a 'Line Agency', (organizationally a piece of the State government), in terms of service delivery to a marketplace even more diverse than the one in which 
    BCFS operates.
    What is the best way forward for AMHS and the good folks of Alaska? Will the rather large check payable to the Elliott Bay Design Group deliver a viable governance
    model, incorporating a succinct Mission Statement? ( The Mission Statements of the companies surveyed were interestingly quite varied and unique).
    The working groups' first Mission Statement draft obviously underwent some revisions, and no, I wasn't offended that 'Canada' was removed from the original draft,
    but a bit surprised at the removal of the 'Lower 48' as well. Obviously the business focus is going to be on meeting the needs of Alaskans and their communities first.
    
   I'm not sure exactly where the restructuring plan going forward from the conference of November 2016 is at, but while there may be scheduling uncertainties and other
   crisis issues that arise in the near future, I DO believe in the wherewithal of our American neighbours and friends who call the great state of Alaska their home, to find
   a way to sustain, at the very least, a minimum level of service to the residents of communities that so dearly depend on that lifeline.

   I do hope that 'Kevin's' angst regarding the first of July's dark cloud will emerge as a rainbow.   
  
   PS. 'Kevin', I too have a soft spot for your beloved 'Taku' as I was a crew member on the Queen of Prince Rupert, and recall going to the aid of the 'Taku'
         when she managed to get herself entangled on the rocks and fir trees of West Kinahan Island, July 29, 1970.
    
     
    
    
     
     
     
  
    
       
    
      

[Name Omitted]

Jun 17, 2017 10:51:52 GMT -8 Starsteward said:

   PS. 'Kevin', I too have a soft spot for your beloved 'Taku' as I was a crew member on the Queen of Prince Rupert, and recall going to the aid of the 'Taku'
         when she managed to get herself entangled on the rocks and fir trees of West Kinahan Island, July 29, 1970.

Thank you for that.  You did a good job; she's still with us.

I keep telling myself that being sold for scrap after 50 years is, in a sense, the ultimate victory for a ship and her builders.  It means that at the end of the day, she got her crew and passengers home safely until the last (give or take a sailing in 1970).  That does not mean that Stan Roger's "Last Watch" does not go through my head with every headline. 

I've seen pictures of your rescue, and have often wounded... did you clear all of the cars to lighten her, or leave some of the cars on the up-land side to prevent a roll?

I share your ultimate hope for the system.  The Alaska Railroad, due to it's state corporation status, runs its own books and is therefore not facing a shutdown, and ultimately has the ability for long-range planning that the AMHS does not enjoy.  The saga of our fast ferries are a perfect example of how our system could benift with some insulation from Juneau.  One governor purchased them with a specific fleet plan that successive governors never really tried.  The question as to the wisdom of their purchase becomes secondary to the inability for the system to build and stick to a long range capitol plan, which is essential when purchasing durable goods.  As for operating their own books, there are several forms of revenue the ferry system could be looking into, if they could keep their profits.

You may recall we shut down the bars on-board.  They were a money looser for the system, since the cost of maintain them came out of the AMHS operating budget while the revenue from them went into the State's general fund.

These is the sorts of things that will be fixed in the coming years by just about any change in the governance of the system. While you are right in that I am feeling a good deal of short term angst, you are also right to reference the coming rainbow.  However, with the state shutting down in 2 weeks, and the House and Senate not even having a framework of a budget to agree on, well... the rainbow comes when the sunlight finally gets through the clouds.

[Name Omitted]

A quick update for anyone using the AMHS, the State has a budget, the ships will continue their schedule. Come on up and join us!






Well... give or take a few Columbia sailings, of course.

[Starsteward]

Jun 18, 2017 9:51:19 GMT -8 Name Omitted said:

Jun 17, 2017 10:51:52 GMT -8 Starsteward said:

   PS. 'Kevin', I too have a soft spot for your beloved 'Taku' as I was a crew member on the Queen of Prince Rupert, and recall going to the aid of the 'Taku'
         when she managed to get herself entangled on the rocks and fir trees of West Kinahan Island, July 29, 1970.

Thank you for that.  You did a good job; she's still with us.

I keep telling myself that being sold for scrap after 50 years is, in a sense, the ultimate victory for a ship and her builders.  It means that at the end of the day, she got her crew and passengers home safely until the last (give or take a sailing in 1970).  That does not mean that Stan Roger's "Last Watch" does not go through my head with every headline. 

I've seen pictures of your rescue, and have often wounded... did you clear all of the cars to lighten her, or leave some of the cars on the up-land side to prevent a roll?

I share your ultimate hope for the system.  The Alaska Railroad, due to it's state corporation status, runs its own books and is therefore not facing a shutdown, and ultimately has the ability for long-range planning that the AMHS does not enjoy.  The saga of our fast ferries are a perfect example of how our system could benift with some insulation from Juneau.  One governor purchased them with a specific fleet plan that successive governors never really tried.  The question as to the wisdom of their purchase becomes secondary to the inability for the system to build and stick to a long range capitol plan, which is essential when purchasing durable goods.  As for operating their own books, there are several forms of revenue the ferry system could be looking into, if they could keep their profits.

You may recall we shut down the bars on-board.  They were a money looser for the system, since the cost of maintain them came out of the AMHS operating budget while the revenue from them went into the State's general fund.

These is the sorts of things that will be fixed in the coming years by just about any change in the governance of the system. While you are right in that I am feeling a good deal of short term angst, you are also right to reference the coming rainbow.  However, with the state shutting down in 2 weeks, and the House and Senate not even having a framework of a budget to agree on, well... the rainbow comes when the sunlight finally gets through the clouds.

     Sorry 'Kevin', I forgot you asked me a question within your response to my comments.
     Re-reading your question, I must confess I had a good chuckle at whether or not we left some cars on the upland side so as to prevent a roll?
    As you've seen in pictures, we came in bow first to the 'Taku's stern door. Very luckily the car decks on both ships were very nearly level with each other so we took
    huge thick planks (goodness only knows why we them onboard), and nailed them together and erected a ramp between the two ships,. I doubt that this procedure
    would meet with much approval these days as the ramp was definitely 'makeshift' and there was no way of securing it to the ships decks, so it kind of moved to and fro
    while we drove cars off your car deck to ours. Very fortunately, most of the cars on the 'Taku' were already facing her stern doors so it wasn't a big problem bringing
    them across the "ramp". We, I should say, Captain Gerry Ruddick's vessel handling was always brilliant, and during the rescue', all he had to do was make sure the
    'Rupert's' engines were at deal slow, with power being transferred back and forth between our two props so as to keep us 'in-line' with the 'Taku's stern car deck.
    Somewhere in my boxes of 'Rupert' stuff I have a picture of our crew assembling the ramp, , as well as a couple of pictures I took upstairs in the 'Taku's bar.
    There was a couple of fairly large fir tree lengths poking into the bar area, over the seating area. A few of the forward and starboard windows had also been shattered, 
    or had large window sections punched out onto the forward lounge deck and, I guess, the 'promenade' deck' on her starboard side.
    Another photo taken from the port side, hull/water line shows how far into the rock pile she had actually driven herself. The starboard forward hull was embedded as
    deeply as the other side.
    The 'Taku' went into and up onto the island remaining quite level, so 'Kevin' you can breathe easy that there was NO chance of the old girl rolling anywhere.
    I think we transferred about 80% of the vehicles to our car deck, entering bow to stern, which was another blessing as the 'Rupert' always unloaded from the stern at
    Prince Rupert. No Problem eh?
    Fortunately we had just arrived in Prince Rupert and off-loaded our passengers that morning so that when our bridge officers heard the distress call, we booted it out 
    our dock, leaving one or two seamen and a steward ashore as they'd gone into town to buy a couple of cases of "pop" for our return trip to Kelsey Bay.
    And mercifully, the boys had bought a bit more than originally planned. We bedraggled stewards set a new time record for cleaning up and setting up our dining room
    for the next morning's breakfast service as many of the boys knew that an ice cold 'pop' was waiting for them in our Tween decks' crew accommodation.
    Damn, those 'pop' tasted good that night after putting in a  long, dirty, busy day but looking back, we were glad we were in the area and could lend a hand when it
    was sorely needed. Working together, BCF and AMHS crews definitely made the best of a bit of a crappy day.  
  

[Name Omitted]

The draft fall schedule is out, and can be viewed here.

This winter will provide a unique opportunity for all you photographers out there.  With the Mat being re-powered this winter (YAY!) and the Taku down and out (sigh), the Columbia will be doing the Bellingham run this winter.  Bonus points to anyone who gets good winter shots of her.

(Starsteward, thank you for your reply, I've been away from the internet)

[Name Omitted]

Alaska Marine Highway changes: One ferry a week for Southeast, no service for Prince Rupert


The Mal is out for the winter.  With the Mat in overhaul and the Taku, well... 

[Low Light Mike]

Nov 27, 2017 22:00:12 GMT -8 Name Omitted said:

Alaska Marine Highway changes: One ferry a week for Southeast, no service for Prince Rupert


The Mal is out for the winter.  With the Mat in overhaul and the Taku, well... 

Ouch !

That is bad news. Expected, given the age of the fleet, but still bad.

[trainguru]

Seeing as the AMH's Taku is on it's way to Duabi... I'd like to bring up a ship that was similar to her, that could have been, Cruise West's "Alaska Queen."

From what I understand: VMD was supposed to build it in the 1960's, and the design was by Philip F. Spaulding. However, after Costs grew over $5 Million Dollars (CND or US, I'm not sure!), the project was scrapped. Does anybody have images of the Cruise West/Spaulding/VMD proposal? I'm having a hard time envisioning a cruise ship version of the Taku.

[Kahloke]

Bump to signify that I moved the prior post into this thread.

[Low Light Mike]

News article on the high price of a trip from Juneau to Bellingham:

Sticker shock for family ferry ride from Juneau to Bellingham: $4,151

MAY 17, 2018 AUTHOR: SUZANNE DOWNING


A family in Juneau wanted to move their GMC Yukon with a trailer, two children and two adults to Bellingham, Washington.

They booked it on the Alaska Marine Highway System last week and were quoted a price of $4,151.

That didn’t include a stateroom or meals, of course. The parents and kids would have to sleep on the floor or in chairs for three nights. Showers would be extra.

There’s a better value: It would cost them $1,600 to ship their vehicle on a barge to Seattle and another $1,000 for airline tickets from Juneau to Seattle. All private sector, it should be noted.

Here’s the kicker: Even if the family chose the $4,151.00 ferry option, the State of Alaska would be subsidizing the trip.

By how much? Another $8,000, because that trip costs the State of Alaska over $12,000 for the family of four and their vehicle plus trailer. The family would only be paying a third of the actual cost.

Ferries are expensive to run. They push a lot of water, burn massive amounts of hydrocarbons doing so, and take expensive manpower to operate and maintain. They are not green machines, as environmentalists would like to believe.

Such is the dilemma for those dependent on the Alaska Marine Highways, and part of the reason some Juneau residents are passionate about creating better access with a 48-mile road to Katzehin and a commuter-style ferry to Haines. They say, “Build roads where you can, and deploy ferries where you must.”

It’s a class thing: Too many working class people just cannot afford to leave Juneau. They spend years there and never have the funds to see what’s beyond the end of the road. While it’s unlikely a road would ever be built to Skagway due to the rugged terrain, a road and a short ferry ride would be affordable for many more than the current four-hour ride to Haines from the Auke Bay ferry terminal.

At Katzehin, there would be eight sailings a day in the summer, and as many as four in the winter. Travelers wouldn’t have to get in line two hours in advance, as they do now, because if they miss the boat, they could catch the next one.


On Wednesday, Vigor Shipyard in Ketchikan launched the first of two state ferries built there after Gov. Sean Parnell turned back federal funds in order to give the Ketchikan shipyard a better shot at winning the bid. The ferry will be christened in July, and likely Gov. Bill Walker will be on hand for the happy occasion.

The first Alaska-class ferry, the M/V Tazlina, is 280 feet long and can carry up to 300 passengers. It will begin service in 2019, as the first Alaska ferry to be built in an Alaska shipyard by Alaskans.

Some road advocates in Juneau hope that by the time the ship is christened this summer, Gov. Walker will not have vetoed the $21 million that has been once again set aside for the Juneau Access Project that this new ferry is designed to complement. The day boat was designed without staterooms just for that purpose in upper Lynn Canal, to give Juneau residents a way out, and others an easier way in to Alaska’s capital city.

The money had been saved for the project for years, while it went through its environmental legal challenges. It’s the only major shovel-ready project in Alaska.

Then, Gov. Walker took the money away and set it aside for docks for the existing ferry system, and said the road project was dead.

This legislative session, the money was restored to the road project by the Senate, over the objections of Rep. Sam Kito III, who represents downtown Juneau. His constituents are split on the road, but many are vehemently against Juneau access.

Now, it’s back in the governor’s court again. Which side will he listen to?

from HERE

[Name Omitted]

Alaska Ferries fully funded in operating budget

The Alaska Marine Highway System got what it asked for in the Legislature’s operating budget.

Lawmakers OK’d the system’s request in their spending plan for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.

General Manager Capt. John Falvey said despite a small decrease in funding, the total time in service for ships will actually increase by eight weeks.

Continues

[ancflyer]

Good new for Southeast Alaska residents that rely heavily on the AMHS. And to a great extent, the Aleutian chain.

There are just some essential items in a budget (I know - everyone has an essential budget items) but at least the legislature there is on the right track. Now we gotta get the Governor to sign off . . . . therein lies the rub.

[northwesterner]

I hadn't realized the fast ferries were potentially slated for retirement with the Alaska class ferries coming online. As I recall, originally when they were ideated, they were to allow the retirement of the older Spaulding mainliners that were operating essentially local service in SE Alaska and the fast ferries would continue doing their work on the routes where they worked best.

www.kcaw.org/2018/05/31/fast-ferrys-future-sailings-uncertain/

Fast ferry’s future sailings uncertain
Posted by Ed Schoenfeld, CoastAlaska News | May 31, 2018


The Alaska Marine Highway System appears to be phasing out its fast ferries. One is in long-term storage and the other will join it this fall.

Sitka resident Mim McConnell’s family car has an ignition problem. But the dealer is in Juneau and only way to get it there — the ferry system – doesn’t sail very often anymore.

“I cannot affordably get that car over to Juneau to get it repaired and then get it back here. There’s no quick turnaround, for one thing. So I haven’t even bothered getting it fixed,” she said.

The realtor and former Sitka mayor is one of many coastal Alaskans dependent on the marine highway system. She’s among those who’ve come to appreciate the fast ferries, which shorten sailings, allowing such a trip to happen in a day or two.

McConnell said that’s also been helpful for sports teams, school clubs and others needing a quick turnaround that saves lodging and meal costs.

“Having affordable access on and off an island, that’s huge. That can have a tremendous economic impact on a community,” she said.

Fast ferry service has become less frequent in recent years. And soon, it will be gone altogether.

That’s because a pair of slower, short-run Alaska Class Ferries will begin sailing next year.

“Once we have two new ships, it’s very difficult budget-wise to maintain the existing fleet,” said Capt. John Falvey, general manager of the Alaska Marine Highway System.

The ferry system’s had to reduced sailings as its funding’s been cut.

He said the fast ferry Fairweather will sail its usual Southeast routes this summer, connecting Juneau to Sitka, Haines and Skagway. It will switch to Prince William Sound in the fall, linking Whittier, Valdez and Cordova.

A draft fall-winter-spring ferry schedule released Thursday shows it leaving service mid-November. It will be tied up for the winter with no plans for its return. But Falvey said nothing is final.

“We’ll have to see, budgetary-wise, where we are once we get at least one (Alaska Class Ferry) running on May 1, 2019. That’s our goal,” he said.

The two new ferries are being built at the Ketchikan Shipyard. The Hubbard and the Tazlina will connect Juneau, Haines and Skagway, one of the routes the Fairweather sails.

While it will be laid up, the fast ferry will be kept ready for use. That’s the case for its sister ship, the Chenega, which was tied up about two and a half years ago. The state paid about $160,000 for the first year the Chenega was in storage.

The state sold another tied-up ship, the Taku, for scrap earlier this year for $170,000.

But Falvey said it has no immediate plans to sell either fast ferry.

“We let all the certificates and everything lapse on the Taku, whereas we’ve got all the high-speed code certificates and things like that in a frozen-type mode on the Chenega. So we could pretty quickly activate that ship and do the same thing with the Fairweather,” he said.

The first fast ferry began operations in 2004, followed by the Chenega in 2005. They sail faster because they are compact, lightweight and have more powerful engines than other ships their size.

But they burned more fuel, so they were also more expensive to run than the system’s other small ships.

[northwesterner]

And on a side note, the author of that story, long time CoastAlaska public radio reporter Ed Schoenfeld, whose Alaska ferries reporting has appeared frequently on this board over the years, has retired.

He covered regional news for a consortium of public radio stations in SE Alaska. Radio news, both public and commercial is an important local news source for SE Alaska, and I listed to him regularly in my summers up there over a decade ago. I also worked alongside his daughter for a summer...

www.ktoo.org/2018/06/01/breakfast-horses-and-other-wisdom-from-retiring-uber-reporter-ed-schoenfeld/

Breakfast, horses, and other wisdom from retiring uber-reporter Ed Schoenfeld
By Rob Woolsey, KCAW June 1, 2018 Community, Juneau, Southeast

Public radio stations and listeners across Alaska are saying goodbye to Ed Schoenfeld, whose last day of work was Thursday.

Schoenfeld is retiring after nearly 15 years as the CoastAlaska regional news director, and almost 19 years at the Juneau Empire prior to that.

I caught up with Schoenfeld to get some parting thoughts and wisdom from one of Alaska’s most enduring reporters.

So of course he was working on his last day of work, putting the finishing touches on a story about the likely demise of the fast ferries.

If reporters weren’t so skeptical about almost everything, it would almost be a sentimental moment.

He’s followed some stories in Southeast Alaska through the entire arc of their narrative. “Weren’t you and I both around back when Tony Knowles unveiled the fast ferries?” I asked.

“We certainly were,” Schoenfeld said. “I remember turning down the option of riding the first fast ferry Fairweather — I think it was from Ketchikan to Juneau — on it’s maiden shakedown voyage because, well I had too much else to do and I didn’t have money in my budget to go to Ketchikan!”

Schoenfeld eventually urged another Southeast reporter to take that ride, setting the pattern for how he would run the regional news desk at CoastAlaska, the five-station consortium including KCAW in Sitka, KTOO in Juneau, KRBD in Ketchikan, KFSK in Petersburg, and KSTK in Wrangell. CoastAlaska has since expanded and will soon include KUCB in Unalaska. Schoenfeld is the uber-collaborator, backfilling our newscasts with regional stories, and sometimes actually filling our chairs when we went on vacation.

“Part of my job is to fill in at local radio stations around Southeast. When I started and didn’t really know the issues as well as I wanted to — and it’s still the case — when I’d go to a town I’d ask people at the station, ‘What’s the spot where everyone eats breakfast? Or lunch, or a beer after work?’ And I would go there and have breakfast or lunch. And if I could join a conversation I would, but often I would just listen to hear what people were talking about. And it helped me find angles on stories, or whole new story ideas that I’d never have.”

Schoenfeld has helped break in many young journalists, with his “get out of your office” approach to beat reporting. There’s a lot more news in the field than in front of a computer screen, and a lot more hazards.

Like the time he was covering news in Wrangell, and decided to do a feature on the town’s one passionate equestrian, and her animals.

“She said sure! And she let one of the horses out and led it down to the road where people were going by quite fast. And I said, ‘Oh no! Don’t do that!’ And she said, ‘Oh people in Wrangell are used to this.’ So the horse kind of ran up and down on the road on its own while I watched the traffic and I watched the traffic and I thought, ‘Oh my God this horse is going to die because I wanted to get the clip-clop sound of its hooves.’ It was fine.”

Indeed, it was fine.

Schoenfeld said he’ll stop doing news for a while and relax, but he doesn’t think he’ll be out of the business for long, and he’s not sure who owes whom a beer, for all the favors, tips, and collaboration he’s shared with reporters around Alaska in three decades of work.

“Don’t you have a spreadsheet?” he asks.

[Name Omitted]

Policy geeks may enjoy spending some time on the AMHS Reform website: www.amhsreform.com/


The project is being pushed by the Southeast Conference with Gubernatorial support.  At the end of the last session, a bill was submitted that would create a State Corporation along similar lines to the Railroad (although with much less of a likelihood of recouping operating costs), and the current governor has given his support to commissioning the studies, but it is an election year, so...

Cliff-notes on the coalescing fleet recommendations are as follows:

• Alaska Class Ferry (ACF) Day Boats (Such as the Tazlena).
• 24/7 Feeder ferries, based on the ACF: these would be the ACF with additional crew quarters to allow them to run on a circuit such as we have traditionally run the Aurora and Le Conte.  If asked to do so, Elliot Bay Design implied they could have revised plans soon enough to allow for a change order that would make Hubbard the lead ship of this class.
• Tustumena Replacement Vessel (TRV), currently designed and awaiting "buy America" waivers before putting out a request for bids from shipyards
• Mainliners with their designs taken from the TRV, without the stabilizers or the vehicle ramp.  As I understand from reading something within all of the documents I have read over the years, the TRV was designed with one point where all of the lines were intentionally parallel, making a stretch a relatively easy prospect.  Additionally, the accommodation decks could extend aft over where the TRV has the elevator, creating a ship that is much more similar to the Mat or Mal then the current TRV.
  
  

This standardized fleet would mean that AMHS would essentially have 2 propulsion systems to maintain crew training and spares for.


A fairly good primer about the current political status of the project: Effort to transform ferry system a lift for next Legislature.  It is, of course, an election year, and we don't know the makeup of next year's legislature, nor do we know who will be our governor.  Then again, that kind of outlines the need to create a mechanism by which the AMHS is somewhat isolated from the political winds of Juneau.

[ancflyer]

They need to seriously consider replacing some mainliners. Mat and Mal are old (Mat being my favorite for reasons that stretch back to the 60s). If they don't those Mal class ships are cost 'em $$$ in maintenance and down time. Even Columbia is getting old (1974) and consideration needs to be made her replacement as well.

If they intend to cover Southeast Alaska with Day-boats, I think they're missing the mark. Like airlines, Day-boats are fine for short haul (SGY-HNS-JNU, et al) but if I want to go from Skagway/Haines to Bellingham, I don't wanna change boats three/four times in the process, sometimes in the middle of the night.

Stretching or otherwise modifying the TRV is fine, but how much capacity will it have. Current mainliners are full, cabins and car deck, all summer long. A copy of the TRV, even with stretched accommodation space where the vehicle elevator is supposed to be, isn't sufficient in my opinion.

First Alaska ferry ride was Chilkat, second was Taku (RIP Taku), and then always on the Mat. Watching the AMHS is one of my favorite things to do.

[Name Omitted]

State officials propose adding Alaska Class Ferry crew quarters

Not exactly new, but more explicitly stated.  What is new is that the AMHS has the funds to add crew quarters to the Hubbard now, should the Legislature give them the authority to use those funds, and apparently that the ACF without crew quarters does not have the ability to do the Lynn Canal run in the winter without a road north from Juneau.  That's a bit of the shock, and certainly not how I had been understanding the situation up to this point.

[ancflyer]

Sept 14, 2018 6:14:31 GMT -8 Name Omitted said:

State officials propose adding Alaska Class Ferry crew quarters

Not exactly new, but more explicitly stated.  What is new is that the AMHS has the funds to add crew quarters to the Hubbard now, should the Legislature give them the authority to use those funds, and apparently that the ACF without crew quarters does not have the ability to do the Lynn Canal run in the winter without a road north from Juneau.  That's a bit of the shock, and certainly not how I had been understanding the situation up to this point.

Emphasis mine.

If I understand this correctly, the ACF cannot make the Juneau, Haines, Skagway run (in winter) without an overnight run/crew quarters?  Why?

It's an hour or so SGY to HNS, 6 hours or so HNS to JNU.   

Is AHMS trying to make three trips a day? 

This is an interesting development.

IF, just IF, the planners already knew this, then they made an error downsizing the ACF in the first place.  Which has always been my opinion.   

[Name Omitted]

Sept 16, 2018 2:55:02 GMT -8 ancflyer said:

If I understand this correctly, the ACF cannot make the Juneau, Haines, Skagway run (in winter) without an overnight run/crew quarters?  Why? 

The argument for designing the ACF with an time-efficient bow/stern loading system was that a shore crew could warm the ship and load the passengers, then just before departure hand the vessel off to the running crew.  The running crew could do the Lynn Cannel in just under 6 hours, turn the boat around in a half hour, and do just under 6 hours home, giving the ship over to the shore crew at the end of their 12 hour shift, the shore crew would unload the ship and bed her down for the night.  This is why a second vessel was needed for the Haines-Skagway run.  Why that second vessel was a full ACF instead of, say, a sister to Lityua which would have been a much less expensive alternative?

I suppose that it makes sense that such a tight schedule would be absurd with the winter winds in the Lynn Canal, but considering how much of the selling points for these new vessels were their seaworthiness, it does seem a bit disingenuous to suddenly realize this now.  It is *very* convenient that the designers just happen to have the ability to add crew quarters into the design, and can get the change order certified and to Vigor within 6 weeks, a change that can be retrofitted into the Tazlena?  Suddenly we have an answer to the question I posed earlier.  Instead of one larger ACF that would have essentially been a replacement for Taku, we get two smaller ones that can pitch-hit for the Aurora, Le Conte, Lynn Cannel or a winter replacement for the mainliners.  The cabins would be missed, but then, the larger ACF did not have cabins either, so...

Sept 16, 2018 2:55:02 GMT -8 ancflyer said:

IF, just IF, the planners already knew this, then they made an error downsizing the ACF in the first place. Which has always been my opinion.

I agree with your assessment earlier that an expanded TRF would not replace the mainliners, being somewhere in size between Taku and her sisters, but I'm not convinced here.  There were some significant regulatory differences between the size of these vessels and the larger ACF, which is why that vessel could, in theory, be swapped out for these two for the same cost.  As it turns out, that was not the case, since these vessels will be modified for to add crew quarters, but I'm pretty sure that will be discussed a lot as the process goes further.

While I use the mainliners more than the feeders, the feeders are actually more important.  Last year, without the Taku, there was a month when the villages did not get service.  If we had lost the Le Conte when she ran aground (and my understanding is that we were a lot closer to loosing her than was publicly discussed), we would have been scrambling for awhile for a long term solution.  I am quite happy to have replaced the much more comfortable looking large ACF with the redundancy provided by having two of the smaller ACF vessels.

That being said, this is an acknowledgement that they made a mistake in forgoing crew quarters in the vessels.  That the mistake is apparently so easily remedied with a time-line that seems like an off-the-shelf solution is already available for an otherwise custom design indicates that rather than a mistake, it may well have been a somewhat disingenuous sales job.

[northwesterner]

Sept 16, 2018 14:06:28 GMT -8 Name Omitted said:

Sept 16, 2018 2:55:02 GMT -8 ancflyer said:

If I understand this correctly, the ACF cannot make the Juneau, Haines, Skagway run (in winter) without an overnight run/crew quarters?  Why? 

The argument for designing the ACF with an time-efficient bow/stern loading system was that a shore crew could warm the ship and load the passengers, then just before departure hand the vessel off to the running crew.  The running crew could do the Lynn Cannel in just under 6 hours, turn the boat around in a half hour, and do just under 6 hours home, giving the ship over to the shore crew at the end of their 12 hour shift, the shore crew would unload the ship and bed her down for the night.  This is why a second vessel was needed for the Haines-Skagway run.  Why that second vessel was a full ACF instead of, say, a sister to Lityua which would have been a much less expensive alternative?

I suppose that it makes sense that such a tight schedule would be absurd with the winter winds in the Lynn Canal, but considering how much of the selling points for these new vessels were their seaworthiness, it does seem a bit disingenuous to suddenly realize this now.  It is *very* convenient that the designers just happen to have the ability to add crew quarters into the design, and can get the change order certified and to Vigor within 6 weeks, a change that can be retrofitted into the Tazlena?  Suddenly we have an answer to the question I posed earlier.  Instead of one larger ACF that would have essentially been a replacement for Taku, we get two smaller ones that can pitch-hit for the Aurora, Le Conte, Lynn Cannel or a winter replacement for the mainliners.  The cabins would be missed, but then, the larger ACF did not have cabins either, so...

If you're an Alaska resident, how do you have any faith in what the Alaska Ferries management says? This entire project was clearly sold as a more efficient 'dayboat' that would greatly reduce the staffing costs of running a mainliner on the Lynn Canal. If a single crews can't make a round trip in the the required time period, how does the financial analysis of this project (including operating costs in perpetuity) pencil out, now?