Less than a week after the only state ferry currently serving Haines returned to service, it was broken down again.
On March 27, the state Department of Transportation (DOT) cancelled Matanuska sailings through April 2 after efforts to replace a broken crab nut on the vessel’s starboard engine led technicians to discover two defective power-pack cylinder units on the port engine.
“Replacement power-pack cylinder units were shipped from Louisiana and arrived (Tuesday), and factory technicians are now installing the two new power-pack cylinder units. (The Alaska Marine Highway System) plans a sea trial to test run both engines on Wednesday,” DOT spokesman Sam Dapcevich said Tuesday.
The breakdown has once again left passengers stranded on both ends of the Lynn Canal.
“We planned our flight around the ferry,” Haines resident Teresa Hura said in an interview Monday. She and her husband had planned to take the Tuesday ferry to Juneau in time to catch an early morning flight to Tucson on Wednesday.
“As soon as I heard the ferry was cancelled, I booked (an Alaska Seaplanes) flight right away,” Hura said. “Hopefully we can get out tomorrow. We have appointments in Arizona,” she said.
Usually the most reliable form of transportation for Southeast in winter, this year ferry service has been unreliable in the upper Lynn Canal due to breakdowns. This is the third time breakdowns have cancelled Matanuska sailings in 2021.
“We’re really frustrated about the ferry service. It’s ridiculous. It’s our mode of transportation. We need to have predictable service, even if it’s one to two times a week. We need to be able to get out of here,” Hura said.
Skagway looked into chartering an Allen Marine vessel to cover the loss of service, as it did two weeks ago when the ferry was undergoing repairs, but the municipality ruled it out after weather on Tuesday allowed Alaska Seaplanes to fly.
In early 2020, Haines went without ferry service for seven weeks, the result of budget cuts and the breakdown of the department’s sole functioning mainliner, the Matanuska, in late January. Four charter visits from Allen Marine were arranged last year.
Dapcevich said the latest breakdown isn’t related to the port-side equipment issues that have plagued the nearly 60-year-old vessel over the course of the past year.
He said the vessel’s ongoing mechanical issues won’t impact DOT’s operation plans.
“Matanuska’s annual overhaul and certificate of inspection renewal were just completed in February 2021. We expect the ship to continue providing service as scheduled,” he said.
Haines is scheduled to begin receiving two ferries per week in mid-April after the LeConte returns from a scheduled overhaul.