“It’s just very sad to see what has happened to our marine highway system” — Rep. Stutes

By Jacob Resneck at CoastAlaska in Juneau

A lawmaker says a fact-finding trip on the state of the Alaska Marine Highway System found vessels in poor shape, low crew morale and a lack of leadership.

As CoastAlaska’s Jacob Resneck reports, that’s all according to Rep. Louise Stutes who recently visited the ferry’s headquarters in Ketchikan.

 

Click on arrow below to listen to report, or continue below to read report.

 

The Kodiak Republican co-chairs the House Transportation Committee. She and an aide flew to Ketchikan to inspect the state’s ferry fleet.

 “It’s very sad. It’s just very sad to see what has happened to our marine highway system.”

She reported her findings on Monday morning to the capitol press corps

“It’s inconceivable to see the dereliction that has occurred in the maintenance of these vessels and I don’t know how to refer to it in any other capacity. That captains are frustrated. The engineers are frustrated. The crews are frustrated. They’re abandoning ship. Literally.”

By that she means veteran crew members are retiring early. Or finding other jobs as some have been without paychecks for weeks.

Regional service was abruptly suspended in January after the only mainliner running broke down.

 

 

Rep. Stutes also accused the Department of Transportation of downplaying the damage to the ferry Malaspina. The ship has been tied up without a crew since late last year. That’s despite the advice of engineers who warned the ship could be damaged by the elements if not properly laid up.

By all accounts, freezing temperatures in January caused some of the ship’s pipes to burst while moored in Ketchikan’s Ward Cove.

“We were told that there was a slight pipe bursting on the Malaspina and that there was just a little bit of water damage.”

That’s the official version from the Department of Transportation.

But during her inspection of the ship, Stutes and an aide say they personally saw at least 10 staterooms with standing water.

“And as we went from room to room, you could walk on it and it was squishy the carpet was wet from water so it wasn’t just a little insignificant leak. It was a flood and why? Why did they tie that vessel up and allow those pipes to freeze.”

CoastAlaska filed a public records request in February seeking a month’s worth of maintenance records. The agency replied that those records don’t exist. A broader request was filed last week seeking answers. It remains pending.

In a statement Monday [March 2], the Department of Transportation said wet carpet is still being dried. And it says the Malaspina could still be returned to service — if it’s needed. But that wasn’t what the impression Stutes got when she was on board.

“Clearly they have no intent of running that vessel again.”

The Kodiak lawmaker also raised questions whether the regional shutdown of the Marine Highway was necessary.

She says crew members expressed frustration that the state was paying for two other ferries to be moored in the Vigor Alaska shipyard, rather than put back into service.

“We had the Kennicott and the Tustumena pulled out sat down there in dry dock for two months. The shipyard had no work orders, but yet the state is paying $90,000 a month to have those vessels tied up for no good reason. They could have been operating.”

Transportation officials didn’t specifically address this point. But in a statement the agency said both ships were due to begin their annual overhauls in January. And that the Marine Highway didn’t have the budget to bring either ship back into service temporarily.

Stutes conceded to reporters that the ferry system’s woes pre-date the Dunleavy administration. But she says the governor’s response to the shutdown has been inadequate.

“And it seems like it’s just not been an emergency for some reason. You see all the pictures of, of these rural communities with no food on their, in their grocery stores and having to charter small airplanes to bring in food and diapers and milk. I mean, that’s outrageous. And so what do we do? We form another committee.”

Gov. Mike Dunleavy has appointed a working group to advise the administration on the future of the ferry system. Rep. Stutes is a member of that nine-person group, whose recommendations are due in late September.

This month the state chartered an Allen Marine tour boat to make passenger runs to several villages. The ferry Tazlina is slated to come back online this month in upper Lynn Canal. But mainline service with connections to the Lower 48 aren’t expected to resume until mid-April.