Ferry service in the Lynn Canal has not always been consistent, with gaps in the schedule at times leading to public protests. The schedule this winter shows a month-long gap starting in early January, then one boat a week throughout February, with regular service to resume in March. Sam Dapcevich, the Public Information Officer for the Alaska Marine Highway System, says the organization plans to run the Tazlina on a limited schedule. He also explains the reasons behind the gap.
“There are gaps in service due to vessel overhaul, and this is a regular thing, it happens every year, our vessels go out during the winter months for their overhaul and recertification with the Coast Guard. The LeConte goes offline in January for a couple months for its overhaul, and we do intend to provide service with the MV Tazlina. We just have to make sure that we have enough crew. A lot of times I’ve noticed that people ask the question well if The LeConte goes into overhaul why cant you take the crew off the LeConte and throw it on the Tazlina and problem solved, right? But that’s not exactly how it works, when a vessel goes into overhaul, it’s crew goes into overhaul with it and they are performing maintenance tasks, they are doing drills that are required by the coast guards, and there is all sorts of things that need to happen to get that vessel maintained and recertified, the crew has to get their recertification as well.”
The Tazlina requires 24 people on board to operate, and to have two crews in rotation, the Marine Highway has had to find 48 people. There has been a big hiring push, but it hasn’t been easy.
“There is actually a worldwide shortage of maritime workers right now, just like in many other industries, and one of the other difficulties is it does take some time to get someone on board. If you are hiring someone who hasn’t been in the maritime industry before, it can take up to about four months for them to get all their paperwork done.” says Dapcevich.
The Marine Highway system has put in place a new program to gather public input. In response to comments, supplemental service to Prince William Sound was recently added, bringing the Tustemina on the Cordova to Valdez route while the Aurora is out of service.
You can reach that program through this link . The program also tracks the levels of funding, crew availability, and fleet readiness.
“We are just trying to get more information out to the public and be as transparent as possible with how we run the ferry system.” said Dapcevich.
Because the Tazlina is a day boat, its sailing schedule will provide slightly less service than the LeConte. In our most recent communication, Dapcevich indicated that “the Marine Highway intends to run the Tazlina on a limited schedule during the service gap while LeConte is in overhaul. A press release with details will go out soon.”
