The Marine Highway System was going to build a new mainline ferry, but Governor Parnell cancelled it and put the money into the two new Alaska Class ferries. These ferries were to be the shuttles from a new Katzehin terminal at the end of the Juneau Road to Haines and Skagway. The shuttle ferries were to run a 12-hour day with a crew of seven. Then the road was cancelled.
Now we are going to get two ferries that are designed to run a 12- hour day, which is the limit the Coast Guard sets for ferry employees. The Lynn Canal triangle run takes 15 hours of crew time. To do the run that the LeConte does now, additional crew must be employed, and those who are on break must have a place to rest. I have been requesting this change for years. I met with Governor Walker and he assured me that it was going to be done, but the funding didn’t come through.
To survive, the ferry system must be efficient. The ships must run as full as possible. Having one ferry looping between Juneau and Haines, and the other looping between Haines and Skagway is absurdly inefficient. The ships will run mostly empty. The resulting financial de cit could sink the entire system. We need one ship servicing the Lynn Canal that can do what the LeConte does now, and to do that it needs to have crew quarters.
Rob Goldberg