MV Kennicott

[Low Light Mike]

Nov 22, 2009 17:05:22 GMT -8 Kahloke said:

Aug 5, 2009 21:09:06 GMT -8 WettCoast said:

I was in Rupert for the 'Decommissioning Ceremony' for the BCF vessel Queen of Prince Rupert, on the 20th of April. While there I was lucky enough to catch the M/V Kennicott leaving for Ketchikan. It was a grey misty day, rather more typical of the North Coast than what you see in the above photos.



All photos by JST©

[Low Light Mike]

MV Kennicott, southbound at 6:15pm on Friday June 17, 2011.
- photo vantage point is the wharf at Kelsey Bay, BC. This is a 1 hour drive north of Campbell River. For the ship, it takes 2.75 hours for it to sail south from here to Seymour Narrows (which is the next photo-vantage point, southward).

- this is the southbound part of a bi-weekly journey to Bellingham from south-central Alaska (not just from the panhandle). She passes northbound at this location on a Sunday morning at approx 6-8:00am.

- the main island in the background is Hardwicke Island.

- this photo album was part of my 2 day ship-spotting trip to the Kelsey Bay / Campbell River area, to photograph the Columbia and Kennicott on successive evenings from the same 4 locations each.

- look for more photos of Columbia & Kennicott, from 3 other vantage points, in the days to come.
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And a focus on her unusual stern section. The large vehicle elevator is a feature for her secondary-purpose as a command-centre for an oil-spill or other major disaster.

- does anyone know what the grey vertical line (looks like a water slide) between the lifeboats is for?

[alaskanmohican]

Jun 19, 2011 17:19:32 GMT -8 Low Light Mike said:

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And a focus on her unusual stern section. The large vehicle elevator is a feature for her secondary-purpose as a command-centre for an oil-spill or other major disaster.

- does anyone know what the grey vertical line (looks like a water slide) between the lifeboats is for?

The grey "water slide" looking feature is actually a pedestrian ramp. It folds outward and extends further to reach the dock.

Although turning it into a waterslide does have a cerain appeal.

Regarding her stern vehicle elevator, it is simalar to the Tustumena's, only larger and enclosed while the Tusty's isn't. The vehicle elevator is used regularly in Yakutat, Homer and Kodiak. These ports do not have traditional vehicle ramps for the ferries to use.

The passenger water slide, I mean gangway , is also meant to be used at ports without a vehicle ramp as "walk-ons" are not suppose to travel on the vehicle elevator, usually.

BTW those are some nice photos of the Ken (and Columbia), thanks for posting them.

Edit to add: On top of the Kennicott's vehicle elevator is a helicopter pad which is meant for her to use when acting as a command center in the event of an emergency.

[Low Light Mike]

June 17, 2011 photos of a southbound MV Kennicott in BC's Seymour Narrows.
-time is approx 8:40 pm.

In comparison to my MV Columbia photos of the night before at same place, this is 1 hour later and cloudier. These 2 factors made it more difficult to get good, clear photos, even near the solstice.
===================

MV Zuiderdam is already through the narrows, and Kennicott is coming down the channel.









When I saw her coming into the narrows, I thought that she was looking really down at the head. This shot shows that effect.






She looks pretty short in this shot.





....now it's time for me to get back into my car and drive 15 minutes down the road to the next viewing area.

[Name Omitted]

Jun 21, 2011 20:18:13 GMT -8 Low Light Mike said:

MV Zuiderdam is already through the narrows, and Kennicott is coming down the channel.

Next time the discussion comes up on this board about why ferries are more expensive than cruise ships, I'll have to flag this picture and talk about economies of scale.

[Low Light Mike]

MV Kennicott southbound in Discovery Passage off of Campbell River, on Friday night, June 17, 2011.
- photos taken at 9:15pm

[Low Light Mike]

MV Kennicott crossing the 50th parallel, southbound on June 17, 2011.




- passing Cape Mudge lighthouse on Quadra Island.



- entering Georgia Strait



- Mitlenatch Island in the background.



- Kennicott on the left, Zuiderdam on the right.

[Low Light Mike]

A photo-contest reject

[alaskanmohican]

May 1, 2011 19:32:57 GMT -8 Name Omitted said:

While reading through the documentation from the public comment process of the Alaska Class Ferries, I ran across a question about stretching the M/V Kennicott. The answer to the question implied that there was actual consideration going on in more than the questioner's head.

Does anyone here have any more information about this?

From the Sitka public comment period www.dot.state.ak.us/amhs/alaska_class/documents/public_input_sit_J06137.04.pdf

Q: Is stretching KENNICOTT an option for AMHS in the future?

A: The KENNICOTT is too small for its existing service. Stretching this vessel is definitely an option as it will increase its capacity and efficiency as a mainline vessel.

In the Alaska Class thread Name_Omitted pointed me towards this question.

I can tell you what I know which to be honest isn't much more that what was mentioned.

Stretching the Kennicott is definitely on the table and will probably happen, someday. The question right now is when.

A little background, the Kennicott sails full on northbound cross-gulf sailings, in fact it sells out fairly quickly. Southbound will sail fairly full, but not always filled to capacity. Currently the Ken usually brakes even on the cross gulf sailings, not bad considering there are only a few routes that recover their costs.

However, it is felt that she is too small, the route would benefit from a larger vessel as well as making the Ken more useful on the regular southeast mainline.

So whats the hold up? As anyone can guess, it comes down to the money to do it. Right now the goal is to get the first Alaska Class built, then the plan is to move to start designing a new Tustumena.

The current Tusty, as grand as she is, is old and takes a pounding on the gulf. The real concern is that if something were to happen to sideline her there is no real good replacement for her. Only the Kennicott is ocean certified to follow the Tusty's route, however the Ken is too large to dock at some ports. So the Marine Highway wants to design and build a new Tusty to help with these concerns.

Stretching the Kennicott will depend somewhat on when a replacement Tusty can come online. If AMHS is able to move fairly quickly on a new Tusty, that will likely take precedence, if the process is slow, then they may move to lengthen the Ken sooner.

Ultimately lengthening the Kennicott is likely to be closer to 2020, closer to her 20 year birthday and serve as a sort of midlife upgrade.

Edited to add: One thing I forgot to mention is that it is likely to see a stretched Kennicott before any new southeast mainliners as current plans are to upgrade Columbia and Kennicott for them to step into a more involved mainline role as the older vessels get retired.

[Name Omitted]

Thank you for replying, it's always interesting to see how far ahead fleet planners must be thinking to keep a system in good shape.

What sort of improvements does Columbia need to make her "more involved" as a mainliner?

[alaskanmohican]

Aug 2, 2011 21:55:01 GMT -8 Name Omitted said:

What sort of improvements does Columbia need to make her "more involved" as a mainliner?

Columbia has already had some of the work done on her, namely going through and upgrading her interiors notably her staterooms. Which was done a few years ago. Nothing is planned such as changing her layout or anything.

The big "upgrade" for Columbia will be new engines which AMHS is doing some work to get the funding for right now.

Really Columbia is already serving in her envisioned capacity. There is talk of Columbia one day making stops at Prince Rupert which requires various SOLAS upgrades, I am not sure what those are exactly though.

I guess my point I was trying to make in the earlier post is that AMHS is trying to maximize use of their "younger" mainline vessels before any concrete plans will be made regarding a new large mainliner.

There are quite a few ideas of scheduling and routing floating around but it always comes down to money and getting approval of the routes from the state which sometimes throws a wrench or two into many a plan.

[alaskanmohican]

So I thought it would be fun to take a look at some of the notices that were printed in the AMHS schedules during the nineties that were about the construction of the Kennicott. Back then, so long ago , there weren't notices on the internet about the ship, you only had word of mouth and the occasional news story or notice.

In each of the printed schedules from around '92 or '93 there was some little notice about the ship. There were only a few different notices, many were reused in subsequent schedules.

Here are some scans from my little project. Sorry about the quality of some of the scans.

While I do not think this is the first official notice, it is the earliest one I could find. This was from the Summer 1993 schedule.



This scan is from the Fall Winter Schedule for '94 to '95.



The above notice was reused for several years until the Kennicott was nearing completion.


The next scan is from a 1998 Summer schedule.



This is a close up of the text.



This is a scan of a notice that appeared in the terminals once the Kennicott entered service.



This is a picture that was found at work, no one knows who took it or where it came from. It is a pic of the launch of the Kennicott.



Finally this scan is from the Summer '99 schedule, it is a nice picture from the schedule that was taken from the helicopter pad on top of the Ken.




I remember being really excited when the Kennicott entered service. She was the first new ferry in my lifetime and she would provide some service to our little corner of Alaska, at least for a few weeks out of the year ;D. So while she may very well be a floating brick, I still am rather fond of her.

[lmtengs]

Interesting scans! Thanks, AM

[WettCoast]

I saw only one AMHS vessel on my recent Alaska cruise.  That vessel was the Kennicott at dock in rainy Ketchikan.  I had hoped to see the Malaspina while we were at Skagway, but no luck with that.  At any rate here is the "Ken" at Ketch...

She is not so pleasing in appearance as her Spaulding-designed fleet-mates ...


AMHS's M/V Kennicott @ Ketchikan in the rain - 8 July 2013
photo © WCK-JST by Wett Coast, on Flickr


AMHS's M/V Kennicott & Alaska Ship & Drydock @ Ketchikan - 8 July 2013
photo © WCK-JST by Wett Coast, on Flickr

[SolDuc]

Photo Heavy (31 Photos).
(Yes, Mr Photo, that was big trip)

So today was the Kennicott's open ship at Bellingham, which drew many voyager members from all across Washington State to Fairheaven. I was one of those touring the ship, and here are some of my photos:
First we board the Kennicott via the stern. The Fairheaven ramp is a single lane one as shown here:

Stern, MV Kennicott - Alaska Marine Highway System by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

The Name and Homeport:

Name and Homeport, MV Kennicott - Alaska Marine Highway System by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

I'm not going to do this post in order of the time I took the photos, but rather by level, starting on the car deck and going up.
Talking about the car deck, here is the stern, with the car elevator above us. The elevator can also rotate to be used as a turntable:

Car Elevator, MV Kennicott - Alaska Marine Highway System by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

The Port side stern side door, and the terminal:

Side Door, MV Kennicott - Alaska Marine Highway System by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

At the forward end of the car deck. Three oversize lanes on either side (if this was the Coho you'd have four lanes on either sides

Car Deck, MV Kennicott - Alaska Marine Highway System by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

Then we go up to the Purser's desk:

Purer's Desk, MV Kennicott - Alaska Marine Highway System by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

Sign the 50th anniversary picture!

50th Anniversary picture, MV Kennicott - Alaska Marine Highway System by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

A regular 4-berth cabin, one of the many found on this level:

Cabin, MV Kennicott - Alaska Marine Highway System by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

Then going up one more level, to the boat deck, where you can find the cafe:

Cafe, MV Kennicott - Alaska Marine Highway System by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

You will also find the Theater:

Threater, MV Kennicott - Alaska Marine Highway System by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

The Forward lounge:

Forward Lounge, MV Kennicott - Alaska Marine Highway System by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr


Forward Lounge, MV Kennicott - Alaska Marine Highway System by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

In the forward lounge you can find the Builder's plaque (kinda weird place to put it):

Builder's Plaque, MV Kennicott - Alaska Marine Highway System by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

Then out on the Fo'c'sle, where the Bell is:

Bell, MV Kennicott - Alaska Marine Highway System by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr


Fo'c'sle, MV Kennicott - Alaska Marine Highway System by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

Up one level to the Romettes. This is the typical 2-berth Romette, where the table goes down to form a second bed:

Romette, MV Kennicott - Alaska Marine Highway System by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

One of the Liferings, with the SOLAS sign:

Lifering, MV Kennicott - Alaska Marine Highway System by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

The foot passenger plank:

Foot Passenger Plank, MV Kennicott - Alaska Marine Highway System by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

And finally, we're up on bridge deck, with the massive 150 people lifeboats:

Lifeboat, MV Kennicott - Alaska Marine Highway System by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

The stars are not actually painted on the funnel, but are hubcaps:

Funnel, MV Kennicott - Alaska Marine Highway System by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

Another shot:

Promenade Deck and Funnel, MV Kennicott - Alaska Marine Highway System by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

One of the Nameplates. Its funny that they put the M/V in there, instead of just calling it Kennicott:

Nameplate, MV Kennicott - Alaska Marine Highway System by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

The fo'c'sle from the Bridge wing:

Fo'c'sle, MV Kennicott - Alaska Marine Highway System by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

What the bridge looks like, from the Fo'c'sle:

Bridge, MV Kennicott - Alaska Marine Highway System by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

Here is one of the "barbecues" (quote from my father) on the bridge wings:

Bridge, MV Kennicott - Alaska Marine Highway System by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

Overall view of the bridge:

Bridge, MV Kennicott - Alaska Marine Highway System by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr


Bridge, MV Kennicott - Alaska Marine Highway System by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

And the best thing about her: the wheel! There is no joystick in the bridge (except for the side wings) so everything has to be done by wheel!

Bridge, MV Kennicott - Alaska Marine Highway System by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

The car elevator from the Terminal:

Car Elevator, MV Kennicott - Alaska Marine Highway System by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

And finally some photos from across the bay on the pier/park.
Funnel, Bridge and Fo'c'sle closeup:

MV Kennicott at Fairheaven - Alaska Marine Highway System by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

And to close this post, the whole ship:

MV Kennicott at Fairheaven - Alaska Marine Highway System by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

Hope you've enjoyed it!

[northwesterner]

A couple of thoughts on the Kennicott from the "open ship" yesterday.

*My first impression walking on board and around the ship is how heavily built she is. This is an ocean going vessel, and the heavy duty manner in which she was constructed is notable from the moment you step on board. 
*The car deck has to be a mess to load and unload. With the side doors (used at all Alaska ports, whether in conjunction with the elevator or without) at the stern, properly loading the ship and getting the vessels on and off at the appropriate ports is hard to visualize. I suspect the turntable is used to assist in this regard, even at ports where the elevator is not needed; this has to be a time consuming process.
*The passenger spaces are nicely appointed. There are two decks of passenger cabins, including one deck that seemed to be mostly 4 berth staterooms. I guess they expect lots of big groups traveling together. That being said, for the rest of the passengers, there is only the forward lounge (which is very large, but...), the cafe and the bar. There are a couple of small stern observation lounges but there wasn't access to those as the passageways to get back there were folded to allow the elevator and turntable to operate. 

[Kahloke]

I'm not posting very many photos of Kennicott from the open house this past weekend because Solduc pretty much covered everything, but I will post a few "unique" shots:

an interesting view of Kennicott from inside Bellingham Cruise Terminal


Here's one from Kennicott showcasing the flags at Bellingham Cruise Terminal.  I thought the framework of the vessel corridor and railing with the brightly coloured flags behind, made for a unique image


Spotted this on the car deck.  Top Secret.  Hmmm....what could be in there?


The sun tried to make an appearance late in the afternoon.  It almost made it, but not quite.  Here's a pic of Kennicott from the boardwalk across the bay not long before she was scheduled to depart.

[Neil]

Kennicott's not a bad looking vessel at all, except for her rear end, where she is definitely not the Jennifer Lopez of ferries. If she's ever lengthened, it will improve her proportions; as she is now, she's somewhat squat looking.

[Mill Bay]

I've always appreciated the Kennicott for looking at. Her genuine ships wheel is her most endearing feature in this era of ultra modern ships.

[Name Omitted]

Eh, she's our floating apartment block. Having said that, I've crossed the Gulf in her in 18 foot swells without discomfort, and then drove off her elevator onto an unimproved pier. I will say she is one fine and capable vessel. God willing, we will never find how good she is in her designed role as a disaster response vessel.

Checked for inflation, her construction cost would be around $110 Million today. Really, what do you suppose the AMHS is looking for in a Tusty replacement set to be $210 Million?

[Blue Bus Fan]

Nov 19, 2013 22:11:04 GMT -8 Name Omitted said:

Nov 19, 2013 20:18:48 GMT -8 Blue Bus Fan said:

Does Kennicott fit in all the harbours that Alaska state ferries service?  

No.

Thank you, Name Omitted. What ports does she fit in? 

[WettCoast]

Nov 22, 2013 18:00:23 GMT -8 Blue Bus Fan said:

Nov 19, 2013 22:11:04 GMT -8 Name Omitted said:

No.

Thank you, Name Omitted. What ports does she fit in? 

A/C,

If you will read, you will find the answer.  Check this thread, near the bottom, the post just one above yours...  Something about 325 feet...

Questions can often be answered easily with a little reading on this forum.  We are not just about pretty pictures...

[compdude787]

Nov 24, 2013 16:41:31 GMT -8 WettCoast said:

Questions can often be answered easily with a little reading on this forum.  We are not just about pretty pictures...

Reading threads on this forum and using the handy "search" feature can help you understand just about anything ferry related. This is how I figured out the whole Queen of Richmond thing.

[Name Omitted]

Sept 15, 2013 21:22:27 GMT -8 northwesterner said:

A couple of thoughts on the Kennicott from the "open ship" yesterday.

*My first impression walking on board and around the ship is how heavily built she is. This is an ocean going vessel, and the heavy duty manner in which she was constructed is notable from the moment you step on board. 
*The car deck has to be a mess to load and unload. With the side doors (used at all Alaska ports, whether in conjunction with the elevator or without) at the stern, properly loading the ship and getting the vessels on and off at the appropriate ports is hard to visualize. I suspect the turntable is used to assist in this regard, even at ports where the elevator is not needed; this has to be a time consuming process.
*The passenger spaces are nicely appointed. There are two decks of passenger cabins, including one deck that seemed to be mostly 4 berth staterooms. I guess they expect lots of big groups traveling together. That being said, for the rest of the passengers, there is only the forward lounge (which is very large, but...), the cafe and the bar. There are a couple of small stern observation lounges but there wasn't access to those as the passageways to get back there were folded to allow the elevator and turntable to operate. 

I know this has been cold for a few months, but I figure I'll respond as a passenger to some of these comments.

* She defiantly is a solid built vessel.  I've been on her in something like 18 foot swells, and she never gave cause for concern.

* The car deck is not particularly efficient, but none of them are in practice.  As you point out, north of Prince Rupert, all of the mainline ports use the side doors, so in day to day use, fore or aft makes little difference.  The Aurora and LeConte were built with turntables, which are never used.  I don't actually think they work.  The only time I've used the turntable on Kennicott was when I was also using the elevator (which is a trip in itself).  That being said, they seem to have more room per lane than the Washington state ferries I've been on, and since the vessels spend a lot of their year not filled to capacity there is often room to use an entire lane to drive forward to the bow, turn around, and then forward towards the aft and doors.  We spend hours at each port of call.

* The small stern lounges are larger than you are imagining them to be.  While it is inconvenient that they are only accessible from the deck, it's actually kind of useful when dealing with school groups.  It would be a lot more useful without the built-in chairs as it is sometimes hard to find a place to throw a sleeping bag.  There are 4 berth sleeping rooms, but there are also a LOT of 2 berth rommettes which are much more affordably priced, and plenty large enough for those of us who tend to spend as much time as possible on the deck.  I very much hope that the roometes end up on whatever we build to eventually replace the current mainliners.

My only real gripes is that she does tend to have slightly lower ceilings than the Sapuldings, and the elevator makes the solarium kind of an afterthought.  Actually, it seems more an afterthought oh her than it does on the Mat/Mal/Taku where it was literally an afterthought retrofitted in later.  I also think she looks like a floating apartment block, but the old adage of books and covers comes to mind.  She's a good ship.

[SolDuc]

The Kennicott was my ride north from Bellingham to Juneau in late June. It was a nice ride, a very tuff ship. If there's one thing that I hated, it's that the window designer didn't design them right. In the forward lounge, when you sit you have a railing blocking the view right at water level, a very annoying thing. Same thing in the aft lounges and solarium, the windows are too high.

First, the Kennicott under the sun at Bellingham.
MV Kennicott at Fairhaven - AMHS by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

MV Kennicott at Fairhaven - AMHS by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

Underway to Alaska!
MV Kennicott departing Fairhaven v- AMHS by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

Sailing off Orcas Island
Sun Deck, MV Kennicott - AMHS by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

A nice wake, as we head out to Georgia Strait
Wake, MV Kennicott - AMHS by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

Sunset with a nice foreground
MV Kennicott sunset - AMHS by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

30-second exposure
Foc's'le, MV Kennicott - AMHS by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

Same, with the wake:
Wake, MV Kennicott - AMHS by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

Next day, northbound in Grenville channel at Sunset
MV Kennicott going though Grenville Channel - AMHS by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

The "observation lounge" just forward of the solarium
Observation Lounge, MV Kennicott - AMHS by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

Wake:
MV Kennicott going through Grenville Channel - AMHS by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

On the upper aft lounge:
Aft Lounge, MV Kennicott - AMHS by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

The Car Deck. Notice how the cars are anchored to the vessel for the rough sailing across the Gulf of Alaska
Car Deck, MV Kennicott - AMHS by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

Getting off the ship in Auke Bay, Juneau
MV Kennicott at Auke Bay - AMHS by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr