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MV Taku
Dec 5, 2017 14:52:01 GMT -8
Post by SS San Mateo on Dec 5, 2017 14:52:01 GMT -8
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MV Taku
Jan 24, 2018 9:27:03 GMT -8
Post by Name Omitted on Jan 24, 2018 9:27:03 GMT -8
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MV Taku
Mar 14, 2018 9:14:08 GMT -8
Post by EGfleet on Mar 14, 2018 9:14:08 GMT -8
Goodbye, Taku
Posted by Leila Kheiry | Mar 13, 2018 The former Alaska Marine Highway System ferry Taku left Ketchikan Tuesday on what is either its final voyage, or toward its new life as a ferry in another part of the world. About a dozen people gathered early in the morning at Ward Cove to wish the Taku farewell. Ketchikan bagpiper Rob Alley serenades the 55-year-old ferry Taku on her last day docked at Ketchikan’s Ward Cove. The Taku has been stored there since 2015, when the state took the ferry out of service. Alley said he wanted to be part of the Taku’s farewell journey because that ferry was how he – along with so many others – first arrived in Alaska. Alley said it was 1992. “And we slept out on the deck coming up here. We migrated up from Bellingham (Wash.) and it was a momentous experience,” he said. “I think there were other people on board coming up for the first time as well. The Taku, she carried us up here. It was like a member of our family. I’m getting kind of choked up just thinking about it.” The Taku began its service in Alaska in 1963. It has carried countless people moving to Alaska, like Alley. It also carried Southeast Alaska school groups and so many others, traveling between communities for competitions and events. Alley said the Taku and all the Alaska Marine Highway System ferries mean so much to the region. “It’s more than just a highway. It’s a superconnection between family members in one part of Alaska and another,” he said. “It’s not just about work and play; it’s about the family here that we have in Southeast Alaska.” The Taku was taken out of service due to its age, along with maintenance costs and budget cuts. The State of Alaska decided to sell the ferry in 2017, with an initial minimum bid of $1.5 million. There were no takers, though, and the price dropped. Jabal al Lawz Trading is the Dubai-based company that finally bought the Taku for $171,000. The sale became final in mid-January. Company co-owner Ben Evans has said that the ferry is in great shape and they hope to sell it for further service as a ferry. Otherwise, it will be sold for scrap. Capt. Bill Hopkins was among those watching as the Taku prepared to leave. He served on the ship in a variety of roles, and said he was a relief captain on board when the Taku made its maiden voyage to Bellingham. “I remember we got to the dock down there, a big greeting committee from the Port of Bellingham. They presented us with a big plaque with a ship’s bell on it. Really nice,” he said. “We put that on the Taku, but years later a passenger stole it. It disappeared. Somebody has a really nice trophy from the Taku.”Hopkins has sailed on the Taku as third mate, second mate and chief mate, as well as relief captain. He said watching the Taku leave is a sad day. “Because it’s going to happen to our other vessels, too,” he said. “They don’t last forever. Almost, though. It’s been a long time.” Sounding its horn, the Taku backed out slowly. Everyone on shore took photos or videos, and a drone flew overhead shooting aerial footage. The ship rotated in the cove to face the Tongass Narrows before heading out. From Ketchikan, the Taku’s planned 11,500-mile trip will take her first to Seattle, then Hawaii before sailing to the Philippines, Singapore and India. www.krbd.org/2018/03/13/goodbye-taku/
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MV Taku
Mar 14, 2018 10:40:43 GMT -8
via mobile
Post by WettCoast on Mar 14, 2018 10:40:43 GMT -8
Interesting story & it is indeed sad to see the Taku go ... But, was she ever assigned to the Bellingham route?
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MV Taku
Mar 16, 2018 14:21:46 GMT -8
Post by Name Omitted on Mar 16, 2018 14:21:46 GMT -8
Interesting story & it is indeed sad to see the Taku go ... But, was she ever assigned to the Bellingham route? I've ridden her to Bellingham. It was awhile ago, I don't remember if she was relieving another mainliner, but she certainly did the run on occasion.
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FNS
Voyager
The Empire Builder train of yesteryear in HO scale
Posts: 4,948
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MV Taku
Apr 8, 2018 22:23:00 GMT -8
Post by FNS on Apr 8, 2018 22:23:00 GMT -8
The TAKU entered the Philippines tonight at around 2300PDT, 04-08-2018. She continues her long trip to Singapore. Contrary to what was written above, she made no stops in Seattle and Hawaii. I've been following her blip occasionally across the Pacific on MT.
She's been reflagged St Kitts Nevis.
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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 Apr 14, 2018 23:21:10 GMT -8
The TAKU has passed by Singapore and continues west. Unfortunately, her destination sign now shows Alang, India.
I've been very fortunate to have taken a ride aboard this ship. Hope this isn't the end for the TAKU.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Apr 15, 2018 8:03:02 GMT -8
The TAKU has passed by Singapore and continues west. Unfortunately, her destination sign now shows Alang, India. Thanks for that news of her final destination. We all know that Alang is a dead-end and a dangerous place. Here's hoping that no one is injured while dismantling TAKU. The closest that I ever got to her was seeing her sail past me in Prince Rupert in 2010.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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MV Taku
Apr 15, 2018 9:01:10 GMT -8
Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2018 9:01:10 GMT -8
Thank you for the update on where she is headed. The closest I ever got to her was when I was on the Columbia in Sergius Narrows heading to Sitka. Former ferry Taku headed to the scrapyard By Ed Schoenfeld CoastAlaska News April 14, 2018 www.ktoo.org/2018/04/14/former-ferry-taku-headed-to-the-scrapyard/The former state ferry Taku sailed past Singapore on Friday on the way to being scrapped. It will go for close to 10 times its purchase price. Jabal Al Lawz Trading bought the 55-year-old ship earlier this year. The Taku left Ketchikan’s Ward Cove, where it had been stored, March 13. The company sailed it across the Pacific Ocean in hopes of finding a buyer to keep it in service. But negotiations with interests in Singapore and Fiji didn’t work out. Co-owner Ben Evans of New Zealand said it will end its sailing days in India later this month. “She’s going to go to the scrapyard and sold for demolition. So that’s the end of the Taku,” he said, calling it a tragedy. The state sold the ship in January for $170,000. Evans said his company will probably get about $1.5 million for the ship. But sailing it 12,000 miles across the Pacific was expensive. “It costs us $55,000 to insure it for the voyage. My crew payroll’s running about $2,000 a day. The fuel bill was probably just under $400,000. There’s some big figures there, you know,” he said. State officials put the Taku up for sale a little more than a year ago. The original minimum bid was $1.5 million. But it took several tries to sell it, each with a lower price. The Taku has not been a working ferry for several years. It was tied up in 2015 because of its age, as well as budget cuts. Robert Venables heads up the state’s Maine Transportation Advisory Board. He also works for the Southeast Conference, which pushed the state to start the ferry system more about 60 years ago. He said the ship’s condition left few choices. “It’s not surprising, but it does leave you with a little bit of sadness that she’s not going to be in service,” he said. Evans said most of the Taku will be recycled. Some parts, such as generators, will be sold whole. The cut-up hull will be reprocessed into rebar. Among other things, it’s used to strengthen concrete in building construction. Co-owner Evans said an investor in Fiji wanted to use the Taku as a ferry. He said interests in Singapore were interested in retrofitting it into what’s called a superyacht. But all backed out.
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MV Taku
Apr 15, 2018 21:32:04 GMT -8
Post by WettCoast on Apr 15, 2018 21:32:04 GMT -8
It is very sad to see the Taku end up in Alang, India, to be cut up just as her Spaulding cousin, the Queen of Victoria, was, twelve years ago. Probably a better fate though than that of the Queen of Sidney. I am lucky to have travelled aboard the Taku several times, including as recently as July 2014. I have taken quite a few photos of her, including this one ... M/V Taku en route from Prince Rupert to Ketchikan, Alaska - 10 July 2008 © WCK/JST by Jim Thorne, on Flickr
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FNS
Voyager
The Empire Builder train of yesteryear in HO scale
Posts: 4,948
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MV Taku
Apr 19, 2018 17:20:23 GMT -8
Post by FNS on Apr 19, 2018 17:20:23 GMT -8
For those who are interested, the TAKU is off the west coast of India at this time. Her name appeared on MT as she was west of Panaji this afternoon.
From where she's now, she has less than 400 miles to go to her final destination.
Tuesday, she was south of Sri Lanka.
Maps by request.
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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 Apr 28, 2018 2:55:16 GMT -8
This is a posting I wish I didn't have to enter. But, I must do it to document the end of the seagoing career of the MV TAKU. The TAKU beached herself at Alang at 0230PDT this Saturday morning (April 28, 2018) in triple digit temperatures (F) there. She arrived in the area on Friday, April 20, 2018 at 2100PDT in 90+ degree F temperatures. She dropped the hook at Bhavnagar Anchorage. She weighed anchor at 2000PDT on Friday, April 27, 2018 and anchored a couple of miles off the shore from Alang. At 0200PDT, she weighed anchor for the last time and took aim to the Alang beach at speeds of greater than 17 knots. The TAKU's final recorded speed before hitting the beach. The final resting place for our beloved Alaska ferry. FINISHED WITH ENGINES. It's hot in Alang! The TAKU was a good ferry to ride. I liked most of the features of her, like the shelter promenade on the stateroom deck, the all-around promenade one deck up, the forward and aft lounges, the galley, the staterooms, and the solarium. My only ride aboard the TAKU took place nearly a decade ago. It was a five hour morning run from Prince Rupert to Ketchikan. That took place after arriving the night before on my first ride aboard the then new BCF ferry MV NORTHERN EXPEDITION from Port Hardy. I flew back to KSEA from PAKT. I liked the TAKU better than her lengthened sisters. To the MV TAKU, we thank you for your hard work and services to all the communities you have served.SAFE ENDING (For all who manned her to her final beaching in Alang).
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MV Taku
Apr 28, 2018 8:09:59 GMT -8
Post by WettCoast on Apr 28, 2018 8:09:59 GMT -8
This is a posting I wish I didn't have to enter. But, I must do it to document the end of the seagoing career of the MV TAKU. The TAKU beached herself at Alang at 0230PDT this Saturday morning (April 28, 2018) in triple digit temperatures (F) there. She arrived in the area on Friday, April 20, 2018 at 2100PDT in 90+ degree F temperatures. She dropped the hook at Bhavnagar Anchorage. She weighed anchor at 2000PDT on Friday, April 27, 2018 and anchored a couple of miles off the shore from Alang. At 0200PDT, she weighed anchor for the last time and took aim to the Alang beach at speeds of greater than 17 knots. The TAKU's final recorded speed before hitting the beach. The final resting place for our beloved Alaska ferry. FINISHED WITH ENGINES. To the MV TAKU, we thank you for your hard work and services to all the communities you have served.SAFE ENDING (For all who manned her to her final beaching in Alang).A sad day indeed ...
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Post by Starsteward on Apr 28, 2018 13:33:03 GMT -8
Having watched countless YouTube videos of numerous types of vessels, their whistles bellowing mournful blasts protesting an ignominious service-ending as their steel hulls rush towards final impalement on a foreign and unforgiving sandy beach. Soon-after final beaching, cables attached to the steel carcass will drag the hull farther from the water as acetylene torches will carve chunks of hull and superstructure from the newly-arrived, opening huge expanses of naked interiors for all to witness. Viewing this procedural destruction of a vessel to which one has no "connection" is difficult enough to watch. I shudder to envisage a time yet-to-come when one of 'My Boats' receive their final service-ending pronouncement and suffer 'bow-torch' indignity on some far away beach. I'm hoping 'My Boats' were watching the final throes of the 'Suzie Q's' final voyage, as she ended her life in a much more dignified manner,committing herself to the deep blue sea.
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Post by Name Omitted on May 1, 2018 18:56:33 GMT -8
She's long been my favorite, so please understand that I come to this from a place of great respect for Taku, but really, this is not a bad end. Two years after she is effectively retired by the State of Alaska, she still has the wherewithal to go halfway across the world. She get's there safely, under her own power to the end.
With no disrespect to our Canadian members, she was spared the fate of the Queen of Sidney, and that is, to me, a blessing.
It could have been so much worse, even as far as scrappers go. As only Stan Rogers could describe...
"They dragged her down, dead, from Tobermor, too cheap to spare her one last head of steam. Deep in diesel fume's embrace, rust and soot upon the face of one that was so clean..."
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Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,172
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MV Taku
May 1, 2018 19:18:54 GMT -8
Post by Neil on May 1, 2018 19:18:54 GMT -8
She's long been my favorite, so please understand that I come to this from a place of great respect for Taku, but really, this is not a bad end. Two years after she is effectively retired by the State of Alaska, she still has the wherewithal to go halfway across the world. She get's there safely, under her own power to the end. With no disrespect to our Canadian members, she was spared the fate of the Queen of Sydney, and that is, to me, a blessing. It could have been so much worse, even as far as scrappers go. As only Stan Rogers could describe... "They dragged her down, dead, from Tobermor, too cheap to spare her one last head of steam. Deep in diesel fume's embrace, rust and soot upon the face of one that was so clean..." So well put, Kevin. My sentiments exactly. Under her own power until the end, and no mouldering away on some public waterway after being bought by someone who didn't actually have the means to carry out some half-cocked dream.
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Post by ancflyer on May 2, 2018 4:12:13 GMT -8
Taku has arrived at Alang and is beached. Sad to see. Photo received via third party in an e-mail.
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Post by Starsteward on May 2, 2018 7:55:30 GMT -8
Taku has arrived at Alang and is beached. Sad to see. Photo received via third party in an e-mail.
Thanks for making the effort to pass that photo along, much appreciated. Might there be a You-Tube video out there somewhere of the 'Taku's' beaching?
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Post by rwbsparks on May 2, 2018 10:58:46 GMT -8
She's long been my favorite, so please understand that I come to this from a place of great respect for Taku, but really, this is not a bad end. Two years after she is effectively retired by the State of Alaska, she still has the wherewithal to go halfway across the world. She get's there safely, under her own power to the end. With no disrespect to our Canadian members, she was spared the fate of the Queen of Sydney, and that is, to me, a blessing. It could have been so much worse, even as far as scrappers go. As only Stan Rogers could describe... "They dragged her down, dead, from Tobermor, too cheap to spare her one last head of steam. Deep in diesel fume's embrace, rust and soot upon the face of one that was so clean..." So well put, Kevin. My sentiments exactly. Under her own power until the end, and no mouldering away on some public waterway after being bought by someone who didn't actually have the means to carry out some half-cocked dream. Better than Queen of Sydney, San Mateo, Kalakala, the list goes on. Compared to some of the retirements the vessels of Washington, British Columbia and Alaska have fared, scrapping is quite merciful. Retirements like E.L. Bartlett and Enetai are rare.
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Post by Low Light Mike on May 2, 2018 11:56:26 GMT -8
If we're going to keep saying "Sydney," then I'm going to start saying "Tackoo."
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Post by ancflyer on Aug 30, 2018 3:17:41 GMT -8
Taku has arrived at Alang and is beached. Sad to see. Photo received via third party in an e-mail.
Thanks for making the effort to pass that photo along, much appreciated. Might there be a You-Tube video out there somewhere of the 'Taku's' beaching? I have another photo of Taku actually beached and listing to Starbord. Can't seem to get that posted for whatever reason.
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Post by Starsteward on Aug 31, 2018 6:55:02 GMT -8
Very sad to see the mighty 'Taku' sitting on he beach awaiting the blow-torches of the cutters. Unfortunately, the 'Queen of Prince Rupert' can't help pull her off this beach like we did back on July 30, 1970 when 'Taku' found herself impaled on a rocky, tree covered beach on West Kinahan Island. Being hacked to pieces by the wreckers at a company at Alang, India whose workers suffer wretched working conditions and a very poor safety record is why I would rather see a ship enroute to any breakers, mysteriously slip it's tow rope and glide to the bottom of 'Davey Jones Locker'.
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MV Taku
Sept 1, 2018 23:26:25 GMT -8
Post by dofd on Sept 1, 2018 23:26:25 GMT -8
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Post by ancflyer on Sept 2, 2018 5:23:32 GMT -8
Thanks for this photo and the data. Particularly the photo. I saved just the photo but couldn't load it here.
M/V Taku was the second AMHS ferry I ever sailed. First was - believe it - the Chilkat. Taku in 1967 coming home to Skagway, AK from Colorado. Last ride on Taku was 1988 from Skagway to Prince Rupert.
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MV Taku
Sept 3, 2018 22:05:14 GMT -8
Post by princessofvanfan on Sept 3, 2018 22:05:14 GMT -8
I always thought Taku would be a good replacement for the Coho.
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