The new mainline ship would sail the longest, most remote state ferry route in the United States, with a range of 4,000 nautical miles.
By James Brooks, Alaska BeaconThe Tustumena, a ferry in the Alaska Marine Highway system, arrives in Homer on August 13, 2019. After more than a decade of planning, design and false starts, the state of Alaska is once more attempting to build its first new mainline ferry in decades.
for shipyards interested in building a replacement for the Tustumena, which sails between Homer, Kodiak and Unalaska on the longest, most remote state ferry route in the United States., based on a prior estimate provided by the state to the federal government and inflation since that 2022 projection.The final operational requirements include a 330-foot-long ship with a range of 4,000 nautical miles, and a capacity of 250 passengers and 28 crew plus 58 vehicles. A computer-generated mockup of the new Tustumena replacement ferry is seen in an undated image published by the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. ADVERTISEMENT The federal government is expected to pay for the majority of the project, which has been a state priority since 2013.The years and the rough seas of the North Pacific have taken their toll: In 2012, age-related problems sidelined the ship for months, cutting Kodiak off from the state road system. After an extended stay in drydock, it returned to service, but the experience caused the state to begin planning and designing a replacement. Plunging oil prices and vanishing state revenue caused legislators and then-Gov. Bill Walker to slash the state’s budget, which put the replacement project on the back burner, and the Tustumena remained in service.that the Alaska Marine Highway System stopped sailing it in strong storms. Subsequent repairs allowed the ship to return to full service, but the state renewed its efforts to replace the Tustumena. In late 2018, just as Walker was leaving office, the state“The request for proposals will be issued in January 2019 and a ship builder should be selected by June-July 2019,” DOTGov. Mike Dunleavy, who entered office in December 2018, froze the Tustumena replacement project and similar large-cost state projects as part of a new round of cost-cutting, and in his first years, he significantly cut the budget of the state ferry system, precluding it from going out to bid. By the end of 2021, the Dunleavy administration had relaxed its position on the Tustumena and
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