Haines would get ferry service between four and five times per week under a winter draft schedule by the Alaska Marine Highway System. Community leaders this week praised the schedule, which includess more stops than at any time since 2019.
“That should allow people to go for medical appointments and everything else, as long as they don’t have breakdowns,” said Haines Borough Borough Mayor Douglas Olerud. Ferry service has also been disrupted in the past few years by budget cuts, and a shortage of workers and mechanical issues on the aging fleet.
Olerud said the newer ferries — like the Hubbard — have been more reliable, but the 49-year-old Columbia has been plagued by mechanical issues in recent years. Ferries would stop in Haines during the weekend, under the proposed schedule. Haines would also get stops from the Columbia , which has capacity for nearly 500 people, making a voyage from Bellingham, Wash. and back each week.
“I think it’s really important that there are sailings at the end of the week and on Sunday, and also in the middle of the week,” said Haines school superintendent Roy Getchell. “It just gives us more options to use the ferry service instead of other plans.”
The comment period for the draft schedule ended on July 12. A public meeting about the draft schedule for Southeast Alaska was scheduled for Thursday, July 13.
AMHS service was gutted in 2019 after Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed a large chunk of state funding for the public ferry system system. Service was also disrupted during the pandemic, but Haines residents have enjoyed daily service during the summer of 2023.