(118) stories found containing 'amhs'
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Next summer's draft ferry schedule same as this year
With the rusty Matanuska out of service pending repairs, the Kennicott scheduled for tie-up due to lack of crew and the Tazlina in the shipyard to add crew quarters, the state ferry system’s draft summer 2024 schedule is limited by the number of v...
State surveys public on ferry system long-range plan
For the next week, Alaskans have a chance to register their opinions on the future of the state ferry system through an online survey that will be used to help create a long-range plan. The survey responses will be used over the next year to craft...
Resuming regular state ferry service to Rupert a priority
On Friday, Sept. 15, I and other stakeholders and community leaders participated in a ferry system focus group workshop for the southern Southeast service area. As state ferry service is one of the very essential elements of Southeast culture and...
Alaska ferry system confronts costly reality of aging fleet
Age is a major issue behind the Alaska Marine Highway System’s pending master plan, which will go to state legislators this month. The state ferry Columbia, which turns 50 next year, had been sidelined at the Ketchikan ferry dock for about three y...
Ferry system breaks even on hiring first six months of year
After the past few years when resignations and retirements far outpaced new hires, the Alaska Marine Highway System was able to hire as many new onboard crew as it lost in the first six months of this year. It showed a net gain of two workers,...
Crew shortage could shut down Hubbard for a week
The Alaska Marine Highway System may have to cancel some Lynn Canal sailings this week as the state ferry system’s hiring woes continue through the peak summer travel season, its top official said Friday, July 14. “We’re at risk of shutting the H... Full story
Limited southbound service to Wrangell for 6 weeks in draft winter ferry schedule
Wrangell will go without any southbound ferry service in alternating weeks from Oct. 1 to mid-November under the Alaska Marine Highway System’s draft fall/winter schedule. The town is on the schedule for its usual weekly northbound stop during t...
Belated christening for state ferry Hubbard, five years after launch
Nearly a decade after construction started and a month after it was put into service, the 280-foot-long Hubbard was officially christened as the newest ferry in the Alaska Marine Highway System’s fleet on June 26 in Juneau. The Hubbard — first env...
State ferry system says it is unable to provide hiring numbers
The Alaska Marine Highway System, which five months ago embarked on improving its hiring process to address chronic crew shortages, is unable to say how many new employees it has hired since then. The push started after a consultant’s report in J...
Southeast at risk of losing Alaska Marine Highway service to Prince Rupert, permanently
Ketchikan, her close community neighbors and all of Southeast Alaska are in danger. We are at risk of losing our Alaska Marine Highway System ferry run to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, permanently. Ferry service to Prince Rupert is vital. It is...
Summer ferry schedule finally open for bookings
Just eight weeks before the start of the summer timetable on May 1, the Alaska Marine Highway System released its schedule and opened its online reservations system for bookings. The schedule, which was announced March 7, came later than usual this...
Ferry system management missed the boat on hiring
It took a consultant’s report for the collective management of the Alaska Marine Highway System and state Department of Transportation to realize that of 250 job applicants over the past year, just four were hired to work on the ships. At that rate,...
Ferry system management says state is working to fix slow, ineffective hiring
The Alaska Marine Highway System is working faster to hire more crew, trying to fix problems that slowed the process so much the past four years that the state failed to keep up with retirements and resignations. The hiring process was so cumbersome...
Federal aid can help the ferries, if the state uses it wisely
It’s past time for Southeast and coastal Alaska communities to be heard regarding the collapse of our ferry system. It’s time to more forcefully make our needs known by energizing the Southeast Conference, the Southeast Conference of Mayors and other...
Wrangell to go without ferry service 3 weeks in January
Wrangell will be without ferry service from Jan. 10 to Feb. 3 under the fall/winter schedule released by the Alaska Marine Highway System last week. The rest of the seven months covered by the schedule includes a weekly stop in each direction in...
Ferry system will stop charging more when ships are full
Three years after adopting a pricing plan that adds a surcharge for passenger, vehicle and stateroom fares on popular sailings, the Alaska Marine Highway System has decided to suspend the program for its fall/winter schedule. The ferry system’s ...
Legislature succeeds at protecting ferry system, scholarship funds
There were multiple positive outcomes for our ferry system this past legislative session, including a bill protecting Alaska Marine Highway System funds, the restart of the Prince Rupert route, and more ferries sailing. House Bill 322, which I had...
Ketchikan looks forward to seeing Prince Rupert again
The Feb. 9 edition of the Ketchikan Daily News contains a Wrangell Sentinel story about the potential return of Alaska state ferries to Prince Rupert, British Columbia — as soon as May 1. The story details the issues that officials on both sides o...
State contracts with search firm to help fill ferry system jobs
The state has contracted with an Anchorage-based search firm to help recruit and fill almost 50 job openings with the Alaska Marine Highway System, ranging from several onshore management positions to onboard crew. Alaska Executive Search was the...
Columbia might come back for summer 2022 ferry service
The Alaska Marine Highway System has put out its summer 2022 draft schedule for public comment, with two potentially big changes from this year: The possible return to service of the Columbia, the largest ship in the fleet, and the possible return...
Wrangell scheduled for reduced ferry service October-November
Wrangell would see one northbound ferry every other week during October and November, and one southbound ferry the other weeks in October and November under the draft winter schedule released by the Alaska Marine Highway System. That’s down significa...
Letters to the Editor
College student looks at ethics of gene editing Is it morally right to gene edit? There are people with various ideas on both ends of the spectrum; some believe by having the power to gene edit you... Full story
Two Matanuska crew members test positive on run from Bellingham
Ketchikan Daily News Two crew members aboard the state ferry Matanuska have tested positive for COVID-19, the Alaska Marine Highway System reported Monday. A member of the Matanuska’s engineering crew began showing symptoms while the ferry was s...
State sells fast ferries to Spanish operator
After spending almost $1.1 million to keep the vessels out of service to save money and safely tied up the past several years, the state last week sold its two fast ferries - built at a combined cost...
Guest Editorial
Last week, the Alaska Marine Highway Reshaping Group released a report it had been working on for several months throughout the pandemic. Even though this group has finished it’s task, I will continue to work to find ways to increase ferry service a...
