Some Thane and Douglas Island residents saw an unusual sight Thursday night: The ferry Matanuska sailing up Gastineau Channel.
Witnesses posted Facebook notes guessing it had made a wrong turn. Ferries take a different route to Juneau’s Auke Bay ferry terminal.
But it turns out the ship was delivering a passenger in need of medical attention.
A 45-foot Coast Guard boat met the Matanuska to collect the 72-year-old man between 10 and 11 p.m. Thursday.
Agency external affairs staffer Grant DeVuyst says an ambulance took the man from a downtown dock to Bartlett Regional Hospital. The nature of his ailment was not disclosed.
The same boat picked up a 66-year-old man with stroke symptoms from the cruise ship Golden Princess earlier that night. The man was taken to Auke Bay and on to the hospital.
No information was immediately available about the two passengers’ conditions.
