At 55, the M/V Tustumena is still a solid vessel, seaworthy in the turbulent seas off the coast of Alaska. Still, forecasted high winds and heavy seas prompted cancellation of its Nov. 19-20 sailing from Homer to Kodiak and back.
All passengers were notified and rebooked or refunded as necessary and a new sailing schedule was available, according to a notice posted early Nov. 19 by the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities.
That was little consolation though to folks in Cordova, whose ferry service over the Alaska Marine Highway System was cancelled late this fall and isn’t scheduled to resume until spring.
State budget woes aside, there’s no reason why the state can’t offer some regular service into Cordova, says Sen. Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak.
“The Tustumena is still a good vessel. We do need a plan to replace it and we have the money in place to replace it,” he said. “We need to go beyond the draconian approach of cutting out anything that can’t pay its own way.”
Rep. Louise Stutes, R- Kodiak, agrees, noting that AMHS announced on Nov. 15 plans to bring the M/V Tazlina out of layup status and begin providing service on Nov. 21 through Jan. 5 to the northern Panhandle, with calls on Haines, Skagway, Gustavus and Hoonah, plus Angoon if a dock issue there can be resolved.
“They put the Tazlina in service in Southeast for Haines and Skagway, which are served by roads,” Stutes said. “This is an Alaskan coastal community problem from the top to the bottom. Some may have to give a little for others to get a little, but everyone deserves to have Alaska Marine Highway System service.”
Lack of service for Cordova “is unacceptable,” said Kodiak Mayor Pat Branson, whose city is facing no ferry service from January through mid-April. Young people in Kodiak, like Cordova have also traditionally traveled out of town by ferry for athletic events and other educational activities.
“We are not going to send students on a barge for a game or outside activity,” Branson said.
“The ferry service is our road,” she said. “We and our representatives are standing up to advocate for the service we need to be a vibrant community. It is our road. We should not be penalized. That’s not the way public policy works. We are working with other coastal communities to make it work.”
Cordova Mayor Clay Koplin said he recently spent several hours in Cordova explaining the city’s issues, including the impact of no ferry service, to Dunleavy administration aide John Moller. Koplin plans to meet with Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Dec. 4 to discuss the matter further.
Cordova is one of the nation’s top commercial fishing ports, sending out large quantities of fresh seafood, including salmon, halibut and cod. Copper River Seafoods is the single largest user of the ferry in Prince William Sound, Koplin said.
Koplin is somewhat optimistic about getting ferry service restored by April 15, rather than May 15.
“There’s a $28 million maintenance reserve fund in the hands of AMHS, plus an $11 million operating fund,” he said. “I don’t understand why we are using state dollars to build the ferries and don’t have state dollars to run the ferries. It’s almost like we are trying to float the shipyard instead of the ferries.”
The state has already spent several million dollars, in fact, to design a vessel to replace the Tustumena, which would be financed mainly by federal funds, but the state has declined to put up its 10 percent needed to begin construction, according to an industry source speaking on condition of anonymity.
Koplin and others meanwhile are trying to collaborate with other coastal communities to get at least some ferry service restored, for the economic and social well-being of their constituents.
These include businesses and individual residents who depend on the ferry to get them to Anchorage to shop, as well as residents who rely on the ferry for transport because medical conditions do not allow them to travel by air.
Robert Veneables, executive director of the Southeast Conference, which was formed in 1958 to advocate for establishment of AMHS, says he’s not offering much hope at this point.
Veneables also chairs the Marine Transportation Advisory Board, whose current membership includes Kodiak’s Mayor Pat Branson, Cordova’s Kerin Kramer and former Gov. Frank Murkowski, who established the board in January 2003 as an interim entity. The board was permanently established by state statute in June of 2009.
“Right now, we have a very old fleet and a lot of challenges,” said Veneables, who is waiting to see Dunleavy’s proposed budget in mid-December and hear the governor’s recommendations for AMHS at that time.
Veneables also points to the Alaska Marine Highway System Reform Initiative report, online at amhsreform.com, which advocates for transitioning AMHS into a public corporation.
“In the longer turn we may be able to turn things around to meet transportation needs,” he said.
Residents of many coastal communities, however, want some resolution in the near future, rather than the far future, for scheduling and related issues that happen when the size of ferries on a given route changes.
The M/V Kennicott, which had been on the Seldovia run, is designed to carry 499 passengers and has vehicle capacity for 67 to 78 20-foot vehicles, while the M/V Tustumena, can carry a total of 160 passengers and 34 20-foot vehicles.
With the Kennecott laid up, scheduled for shipyard maintenance at Ketchikan on Jan. 1, and not back in service until April 15, Seldovia residents are having difficulty at times getting all their vehicles on board.
Right now, said Jackie Taylor, finance officer for the city of Seldovia, the problem is the Tustumena comes in from Kodiak on Sunday and usually there are a large number of vehicles and so it is limited space.
“We have to tell all our locals to make reservations so they are sure they can get on,” she said. “And when they shut it down from January to April it will be a big impact for our grocery store and the liquor store and the bar and locals going to do their grocery shopping.”
Meanwhile Stevens, Stutes, Branson and Koplin are hoping to get at least some ferry service for Cordova restored sooner than later.
“We need dependable service into Cordova,” Koplin said. “People need to know we are working on it, trying to find a solution and we have got to work together.”
