Alaska Marine Highway System

The Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) announced Wednesday, April 24 that the MV Tustumena ferry will be delayed coming out of its annual maintenance or overhaul. That means the earliest it will sail to Kodiak Island is the evening of May 9, when it’s scheduled to stop in Port Lions and Ouzinkie as well as Kodiak, departing Homer at 8:45 …

For the first time, money from ticket sales and revenue coming in from passengers using the Alaska Marine Highway System, known as toll credits, will fund ferry and marine highway projects across the state. That’s in part due to recent eligibility changes within a Federal Highway Administration program. Last week on April 4, the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public …

Alaska lawmakers have less than a month, until March 16, to vote down any of the dozen executive orders introduced by Gov. Mike Dunleavy at the start of the legislative session. One of those would replace the existing makeup of the Alaska Marine Highway Operations Board with the governor’s appointees. Legislators have begun discussing and will take public comment on …

Governor Walker and Heidi Drygas visit crab fest. Photo courtesy of the Walker-Drygas campaign. Listen to this story; Editor’s Note: KMXT will interview gubernatorial candidates when they campaign in Kodiak. You can find more information about the August special election, primaries and candidates for all races here. Election season is underway for Alaska’s race for governor; former governor and nonpartisan …

The M/V Tustumena docked in Kodiak. It’s the smaller of two ferries that service Kodiak Island. (Photo by Kavitha George/KMXT) Listen to this story; The M/V Tustumena had been in service for less than two weeks when it docked in Homer on July 26. According to an Alaska Department of Transportation press release, the Alaska Marine Highway System ferry had …

It’s official; the Tustumena is finally being replaced. The over-$200 million project was announced by Governor Dunleavy during a Saturday visit to Kodiak. “We’re going to be directing the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities to move forward with replacing the Tustumena that has served Alaska and has been homeport here in Kodiak since 1964,” Dunleavy said. With a design 90% …

Kodiak Republican House Speaker Louise Stutes has announced two appointees to a new state ferry oversight board. That’s according to a Monday press release from the Alaska House Coalition. Shirley Marquardt and Wanetta Ayers will be stepping up to staff the recently formed Alaska Marine Highway Operations Board. Marquardt served on the Marine Transportation Advisory board for nine years, and …

Two of three of Governor Mike Dunleavy’s appointments to a new ferry oversight board are from Kodiak Island.  Gov. Dunleavy’s office announced Friday that former Kodiak lawmaker Alan Austerman and Old Harbor village corporation executive Cynthia Berns would have seats on the Alaska Marine Highway Operations Board created this year by the legislature. Austerman is a former Kodiak city police …

Sen. Gary Stevens. The Republican lawmaker has represented Kodiak since 2003. A state budget will likely be passed at the end of this month’s special legislative session, but the PFD question may not be answered by then. That’s according to Kodiak Senator Gary Stevens, who sat down with Jared Griffin at KMXT to talk about recent developments in the legislature …

May 19, 2021 by Jacob Resneck, CoastAlaska Alaska lawmakers passed a bill to Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Wednesday that boosters say would ensure better long-term planning for the state-run ferry system. The Alaska Marine Highway System has been struggling with deep spending cuts, an aging fleet and declining ridership as it runs fewer ships to coastal communities. But it’s also come under fire for …