The Matanuska is old, no question about it. Even after a $47 million rebuild in 2018-2019, it will continue to suffer from the ailments of age as a 58-year-old ship in salt water.

But Alaskans should question why the ship keeps coming out of service with mechanical problems. Sadly, the ferry has become as undependable as Democrats and Republicans working together.

What are the state's costs of repairs and lost revenue from the service outages? What are the costs to people and businesses of ruined travel plans? And what is the state's plan for this summer should the Matanuska continue as an unr...