With a pool of federal dollars flooding into Alaska, the Alaska Marine Highway System is looking to address its aging fleet as part of its 20-year plan.
Marine Director Craig Tornga said AMHS is looking to upgrade more than half of its fleet as part of the“There’s nine vessels in the fleet and five of those vessels are over 45 years old. Standardly, you don’t operate vessels past the 25, 30-year mark,” Tornga said.
Southeast Conference Executive Director Robert Venables called the plan a “game changer.” He said the plan addresses problems that should have been addressed 10 to 15 years ago. He added when ferries break down, it is often for weeks at a time because parts are hard to come by locally, and technicians have to travel up from outside the state.
Tornga said the plan calls for the marine highway to have a fleet of nine vessels, but he is hoping recruitment and retention of employees improve as the plan develops. Tornga said currently they are short in every licensed category. He said they are down nine fleet officers and 36 engineers.
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