More than 4 years after launch, state ferry Hubbard finally goes to work

The Hubbard pulled away from the dock at the Ketchikan Shipyard on May 18, headed for its first passenger sailing — more than four years after it was built at a cost of about $60 million.

Carrying a crew of 24 — with newly installed sleeping quarters for crew — the Hubbard headed to Juneau, where it was scheduled to start work Tuesday, running six days a week between the Capital City and the Lynn Canal communities of Haines and Skagway.

The Hubbard is not scheduled to visit Wrangell this summer. With the Matanuska out of service for repairs to “wasted” steel, only the Columbia is working the S...