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Post by SS Shasta on Sept 27, 2006 11:17:10 GMT -8
Looks like the MV Columbia is out of service again with generator problems. According to the AMHS news release, the MV Columbia suffered damage to its #2 generator as it prepared to depart Haines for Juneau. The vessel is expected to arrive in Ketchikan later in the week for repairs. Its current voyage south to Bellingham has been cancelled. AMHS will update as soon as more information is available(  ). MV Columbia suffered a similar problem earlier this summer. |
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Post by Low Light Mike on Sept 27, 2006 17:08:29 GMT -8
Is it fair to say that she has been a pretty bad-luck ship, as far as breakdowns, fires, etc....over the years?
Regardless of that, I think she's a fine looking ship.
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Post by SS Shasta on Sept 30, 2006 14:46:51 GMT -8
Yes, MV Colunbia has been a hard luck vessel for AMHS. She had many problems when she first left the yard back in 1974. According to the most recent info, she will be out of service until at least 25 October and likely longer. Glad I have a reservation to go south tomorrow on MV Malaspina which is now the grand old lady of the fleet!
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Post by SS San Mateo on Oct 2, 2006 14:08:43 GMT -8
If that wasn't bad enough, the MV LeConte, which was supposed to return to service this past Friday (it's been in overhaul since late August), won't be back in service until mid-to-late November. The Fairweather, which was supposed to enter overhaul on Sunday, will remain in service until November. Source: ktva.com/alaska/ci_4431727 |
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Post by dunbar on Dec 28, 2006 19:58:34 GMT -8
i took trip on the columbia from ketchikan to bellingham in june 1999. the trip was good and the cabin we had was a berth cabin meening two beds on each side of the room. she is nice ferry it took two days to get to bellingham. i relay like the columbia and that trip was coming down the coast wich few days before i came to ketchikan from petersburg on the keenycot wich joind the fleet in 1998 and rode her year later to bad our stateroom had no windows but i took it wich i was traveling with firend at that time. i think the columbia is flag ship of the alaska marine highway.
robert
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Post by Low Light Mike on Dec 28, 2006 20:06:18 GMT -8
Where did you start your Alaska trip from, Robert?
Did you drive up on the Alaska Highway ?
How were the Columbia & Kennicott, compared to the Queen of the North ?
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Post by dunbar on Dec 29, 2006 16:35:18 GMT -8
we flew to whitehorse and took a bus and the train to skagway and got the KENNICOT there to junau . then onto sitka on the taku then night in sikta then onther alaska ferry wich i can not rember at this time to petersburg . we were in petersburg for 12 hours then onto the kennitcot to ketcihkan. comparing them to the queen of the north they both had airplane seats and that was good but i have choice i realy like the queen of the north because i use to go onboard on her during the port days in vanouver in the late 1980s and early 1990s wich was a promotion of her trip.
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Post by SS Shasta on Jan 22, 2007 23:06:48 GMT -8
It looks like MV Colunbia has finally returned to service for AMHS after a long period of layup at the Ketchikan shipyard. She sailed north on 21 January and will arrive in Bellingham, Wa on 26 January. MV Columbia was disabled in late September by generator problems and repairs took much longer than expected. I have no idea if the damage was much greater than first thought or if there were problems with the Ketchikan shipyards. There were also major delays in annual maintenance work on MV LeConte last fall at the yard. Two vessels, MV Malaspina and MV Taku have been sent south for major overhauls this winter.
During the long period when MV Columbia was out of service, the MV Matanuska was assigned as the replacement vessel on the Alaska/Bellingham route.
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Post by SS Shasta on May 25, 2007 6:28:46 GMT -8
With the beginning of the busy summer season, the AMHS mainline vessel MV Columbia is out of service (again  ) here in Ketchikan. She arrived several hours late on Wednesday afternoon from the north and tied up at the spare ferry slip. There is suppose to be some announcement today as to when service will resume. This is the latest in a series of unfortunate breakdowns for MV Columbia. Last September she was suddenly pulled from service because of generator problems and did not return for almost 6 months. |
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Post by queenofcowichan on May 25, 2007 16:19:57 GMT -8
mv Malaspina is also on the Bellingham run, leaving Bellingham northbound on Tuesdays.
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Post by queenofcowichan on May 25, 2007 18:36:57 GMT -8
Weird, I just checked the Alaska Ferry site and found no info about the Columbia's Cancelled sailings.
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Post by SS Shasta on May 25, 2007 19:04:54 GMT -8
Weird, I just checked the Alaska Ferry site and found no info about the Columbia's Cancelled sailings. It is finally been posted on the AMHS site. MV Columbia is now scheduled to depart Ketchikan on Sunday 27 May for Juneau, Haines, Skagway, and other points north. |
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jul 18, 2007 17:15:45 GMT -8
Here's an AMHS related news-story: www.thenorthernview.com:80/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=142&cat=23&id=1027387&more=0============================== Pressure to pull ferries is increasing By Shaun Thomas The Northern View Jul 18 2007 The push for Alaska Ferries to pull its service from Prince Rupert is on the rise within the state, according to Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond. “As long as I have been in government, that has been an issue. Hyder has been lobbying and it has always been in the background,” he said. “It is coming to life again a little more because there are new people running the Alaska ferry system, there is a new commissioner of transportation under the elected governor, there is a new Marine Transportation Advisory Board and I think that lobby has come back to life in a stronger than usual way. There are some significant operational issues for the Alaska Marine Highway System as they operate in and out of Canada now that simply didn’t exist 10 years ago.” Among the new operational concerns are increased security measures put into place for travel between the U.S. and Canada following the attacks of September 11, some of which require U.S. Customs agents to travel on board the ferry between Alaska and Prince Rupert, explained Pond. Currently the city owns the terminal building and has a lease with both the Prince Rupert Port Authority and the Alaska Marine Highway System, a lease that was given a short-term renewal recently and that the city says could be on a month-to-month basis. Should Alaska Ferries choose to withdraw its service, Pond said the impact to Prince Rupert could be huge. “This is a transportation link that means a lot to Prince Rupert and has the potential to be really substantial to Prince Rupert as we move forward with expanded retail shopping and the gaming centre opening up. I think people would be surprised to know how many Alaskans come down here every year,” he said. “We have done a lot of work building relationships to keep people informed about what is developing here in Prince Rupert and we have some strong allies that see the tremendous advantage of coming here, but we have to do a lot of work and form a lot of alliances to make sure that nobody takes that for granted.” A spokesperson for the Alaska Marine Highway System confirmed that Hyder is pushing for the ferry to come there and listed issues with Prince Rupert such as the poor maintenance of the dock and cross-border operational concerns. However, he noted that Hyder is more costly to go to, has no dock infrastructure and lacks supports like hotels and motels. =============== |
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Post by Hardy on Jul 18, 2007 17:30:36 GMT -8
Hmmm, interesting. I wonder if there would be any kind of appetite for BCFS to run a PR->Alaska service whatsoever. If the operational concerns of AMHS is that they are travelling from US->Canada->US again, and they want to skip the Canadian port of call, then I see an opportunity for BCFS or another private venture to offer service on that corridor. As is identified, there is an existing "flow" of traffic, but would the numbers be enough to warrant a separate service? Interesting. Something else for us to ponder in the forums ...  |
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jul 18, 2007 17:35:24 GMT -8
To clarify, there is no AMHS run that goes US-Canada-US.
Prince Rupert is not a stop, start or end on the Bellingham run.
So Prince Rupert only goes to points north.
The Columbia & Malaspina trips from Bellingham go straight to Ketchikan......and don't stop at Rupert.
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Post by SS Shasta on Jul 21, 2007 11:04:36 GMT -8
There is a lot of very stupid thinking that goes on around here and this idea fits into that class. Remember, Ketchikan is the place that "wants to build the Bridge to Nowhere." ;D
Prince Rupert is the ideal landing as it has good connections to the Vancouver Island ferry and other commercial transportation, as well as the main highways south and east. Hyder is a small but semi-isolated community that has become a "tourist trap" in recent years. For several years AMHS ran a weekly ferry there during the summer months, but discontinued it because of low traffic volumes.
BTW: The MV Columbia and MV Malaspina are not certified to make landings at BC ports. They are now assigned exclusively to the Bellingham run.
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Post by Northern Exploration on Jul 21, 2007 14:46:36 GMT -8
I have always wanted to do a circle route from Bellingham to Ketichican on the Columbia. Then down to Prince Rupert. Across to the Charlottes and back to Prince Rupert. Then back south to Port Hardy. It gets awefully expensive when you drag a car though and leaving a car in Bellingham isn't a good option. I guess you could take the bus down to Victoria and take the WSF to Bellingham but the bus part doesn't appeal to me.
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Post by Barnacle on Jul 23, 2007 7:33:36 GMT -8
Especially because WSF doesn't get anywhere near Bellingham.
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Post by Northern Exploration on Jul 23, 2007 9:22:35 GMT -8
Yeah I never got as far as checking the bus service from Anacortes to Bellingham. And it would be too exorbinant in a taxi. At one point a friend from Portland who had never been on the Inside Passage was going to join me. We could have left my rental car in Bellingham and his car at Anacortes or vice versa. Until a job change for him moved him to Dallas.
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Post by BreannaF on Jul 23, 2007 11:25:01 GMT -8
It is possible to get from Anacortes to Bellingham by local transit bus, but it requires 3 buses to do it. Not my idea of fun at the end of a trip. Skagit Transit: www.skagittransit.org/index.cfm?pageID=2259I was actually sort of surprised at how limited the options are for geting into or out of Anacortes without a car. There's also a touristy passenger ferry from Victoria to Bellingham and from Friday Harbor to Bellingham on a seasonal basis. Probably not too convenient, though. www.whales.com/ |
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Post by Northern Exploration on Jul 23, 2007 17:17:57 GMT -8
Thanks Brian, I kinda suspected as much. Maybe will have to think up some other way of doing it - or in stages. It may be possible if a car were full of people so that the expensive car fares are spread around a bit.
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Post by SS Shasta on Jul 23, 2007 19:26:31 GMT -8
Perhaps it should be mentioned that draft plans of AMHS would place MV Colunbia out of service from the last week of September, 2007 thru April, 2008. Only one Bellingham-SE Alaska run per week is usually scheduled during this time. Last winter MV Malaspina spent most of the winter being upgraded at Todds, Seattle, so it will be MV Columbia's turn for "a long winter's rest."
BTW: It is easy to get to the AMHS Bellingham terminal from Vancouver B.C. via the train or bus. The Bellingham train/bus depot is located just across the street/tracks from the ferry dock.
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Post by Northern Exploration on Jul 24, 2007 13:56:44 GMT -8
Ok thanks. So maybe leave the car in Vancouver and take the train to AMHS then. Food for thought. OK here is a question for those who may know. I know the Columbia is more or less the flagship of the fleet - is that true or not. If not of the ferries that serve the southern routes which is the nicest? Maybe subjective but would be interesting to know.
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Post by SS Shasta on Jul 24, 2007 18:15:25 GMT -8
Ok thanks. So maybe leave the car in Vancouver and take the train to AMHS then. Food for thought. OK here is a question for those who may know. I know the Columbia is more or less the flagship of the fleet - is that true or not. If not of the ferries that serve the southern routes which is the nicest? Maybe subjective but would be interesting to know. I always ride the MV Malaspina on this route (about 3 times per year). The folks at Todds Seattle did a nice upgrade on her last winter; she has a new movie theater and computer lab. The food is great and the crew takes wonderful care of her. She is not a cruise ship, but who wants one. The MV Columbia might be the flagship, but the MV Malaspina is the First Lady of the fleet.  |
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Post by Northern Exploration on Jul 25, 2007 5:21:47 GMT -8
Thanks Shasta. Were you ever on the Queen of the North? I am not looking for cruise ship accomodations or amenities anyways. Just a nice clean outside stateroom, good food and lots of scenery, relaxing, and some good good books. Time to download stress in other words. I used to do the Queen of the North and Wickanninish Inn on Long Beach. The latters success and room rates mean I usually only do one or two nights not the 5 to 7 days I used to be able to afford.
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). MV Columbia suffered a similar problem earlier this summer.
) here in Ketchikan. She arrived several hours late on Wednesday afternoon from the north and tied up at the spare ferry slip. There is suppose to be some announcement today as to when service will resume. This is the latest in a series of unfortunate breakdowns for MV Columbia. Last September she was suddenly pulled from service because of generator problems and did not return for almost 6 months.
