The two unused Alaska fast ferries — which the state sold earlier this year as surplus — have been delivered to the Spanish Island of Ibiza, according to the Diario de Ibiza news website.
Diario de Ibiza on Aug. 30 posted several photographs of the former ferries Chenega and Fairweather aboard a heavy-lift ship that left Ketchikan on July 4 and made its way to and through the Panama Canal before crossing the Atlantic Ocean and into the Mediterranean Sea.
“The two ships arrived this morning on the island, specifically to the Calo des Moro area, in Sant Antoni, under the watchful eye of many banistas (beach-goers) who were impressed by the size of the ship,” wrote Leire Rodregu in Diario de Ibiza.
In March, the state sold the two Alaska Marine Highway System ferries for a total of $5.17 million to an Ibiza-based firm that operates a seven-vessel ferry service under the brand name Trasmapi.
The China-owned, Liberian-flagged heavy-lift transport ship Red Zed I arrived in Ketchikan, where it submerged so that the fast ferries could climb aboard for the ride to Spain.
The 235-foot, diesel-powered and jet-drive catamarans were built in the mid-2000s at the Derecktor Shipyards in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The combined cost was $68 million.
The sale proceeds were transferred into the state’s vessel construction fund, an account used for Alaska Marine Highway maintenance and construction.
The Fairweather and Chenega had been tied up at Ward Cove in Ketchikan the past few years, at an estimated total cost of $1.1 million through this fiscal year for shore power, security and moorage fees.
The ships, which traveled about twice as fast as the rest of the state ferry fleet, were popular with passengers. But they struggled to perform in rough seas and burned a lot more fuel.
The ships, each powered by four diesel engines, burned through about 600 hours of fuel an hour, according to the Alaska Marine Highway System website. That’s more than double the consumption rate of the Matanuska, which can carry more than twice as many passengers and vehicles as the smaller ferries.
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