Skagway left out in scramble to accommodate ferry-riding lawmakers

An Alaska Marine Highway ferry docked in Skagway. (Photo by Emily Files/KHNS)
An Alaska Marine Highway ferry docked in Skagway. (Emily Files/KHNS)

The state Department of Transportation quietly removed sailings of their lone ferry to the Upper Lynn Canal next month after discovering additional steelwork is needed on the vessel. One sailing to Haines was added to accommodate lawmakers traveling to Juneau for the January legislative session, but the plan left Skagway high and dry. And questions remain about whether the state prioritized lawmakers over taxpayers.

Late last week, the Alaska Marine Highway removed the Matanuska from its calendar for several weeks after the new year. This week they announced the Kennicott will sail as far north as Haines on Jan. 12 to cover the early January mainliner duties that the Matanuska will miss, but it will not call on Skagway. The marine highway also announced that the LeConte will add three sailings to Haines and Skagway during the first week of January, but nothing past Jan. 8.

Alaska Marine Highway spokesperson Sam Dapcevich cited a crew shortage for the reason not to activate the Tazlina, which has been sitting idle in Juneau’s Auke Bay terminal.

But union representatives for the Alaska Marine Highway crew say they do have members ready to work.

“I’m not sure why you were told that there’s a lack of crew. I mean, the Matanuska is tied up, people are laid off, they’re sitting on the beach,” said Earling Walli, regional director of the Inland Boatmen’s Union of the Pacific, the largest of the three unions representing state ferry workers.

Walli says there are workarounds available that would shorten the winter gap between sailings to Skagway.

“Our other question to the state was, well, why can’t we just keep the LeConte running until the Matanuska can come out?” Walli said.

Shannon Adamson is the regional representative for Masters, Mates and Pilots, which represents deck officers on the marine highway. She says it’s curious that DOT is claiming a shortage of crew since her union wasn’t consulted about its members’ availability.

“We haven’t been contacted by the state about any of the issues that are currently occurring in the villages and north Lynn Canal,” Adamson said.

The LeConte is certified until April, ferry union reps argue, and it already has a crew. But calls to Dapcevich with follow-up questions went unanswered on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, more questions remain about the use of the Kennicott to fill in for the Matanuska on the mainliner run that reaches as far north as Haines on Jan. 12.

Skagway Mayor Andrew Cremata says it appears there’s a double standard at work, with the state prioritizing elected officials over ordinary people.

“Why is it so easy to pivot quickly to get a ferry up to Haines for legislators and impossible to get a ferry to Skagway that services the needs of a community that are desperate to be able to get where they need to go? Whether it be the doctor or a grocery store visit, or for a much-needed vacation?” Cremata said.

And yet there are other possible solutions, Meanwhile the Alaska Class ferry Tazlina and the mainliner Columbia are both tied up for cost-cutting or lack of certificates.

Over the weekend, Gov. Dunleavy’s office announced a plan it says would re-energize the Alaska Marine Highway System.

The report says the Tustumena would be replaced in five years to serve Southwest routes. And an idle Alaska Class Ferry, the Hubbard — built for $60 million as a solution for northern Lynn Canal communities, but never used — would be outfitted with crew quarters to extend its range at a cost of more than $15 million.

The governor’s report says the Hubbard will be deployed to Prince William Sound and possibly some Southeast Alaska communities. But there was no mention of the Upper Lynn Canal.

KHNS - Haines

KHNS is our partner station in Haines. KTOO collaborates with partners across the state to cover important news and to share stories with our audiences.

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