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. But after adding one sailing to Haines to accommodate lawmakers traveling to Juneau for the January legislative session, Skagway is left high and dry. Questions remain as to 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 January 12 to cover the early January mainliner duties that the Matanuska will miss, but it will not call on Skagway. AMHS also announced the LeConte will add three sailings to Haines and Skagway during the first week of January, but nothing past January 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 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. 

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

Shannon Adamson heads the Master’s 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. 

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

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 regarding the use of the Kennicott to fill in for the Matanuska on the mainliner run that reaches as far north as Haines on January 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, or 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?” Asked Cremata.

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

Over the weekend 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 was 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.