Though the state will have two ferries that could operate next summer on the popular route between Bellingham, Washington, and Alaska, it will park the Kennicott at the dock in Ketchikan, keeping it out of service for the fourth summer in a row due to a persistent crew shortage.

The Alaska Marine Highway System has suffered from chronic crew vacancies ever since it tried to resume full service in 2022 after deep cuts to its schedule — and staffing — in 2021-2022 when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down travel.

Crew layoffs, resignations and retirements have cut deeply into employee numbers, leaving the system short of enough workers to keep all of its vessels in the water — despite repeated efforts to hire new staff.

The Columbia, which is currently in the shop for winter overhaul and maintenance, is scheduled to go back to work on the Bellingham-to-Southeast route for the May 1 through Sept. 30 summer schedule. The Kennicott, which is filling in for the Columbia on the route this winter, will park for the summer.

“While the Kennicott and Columbia are both available this summer, we currently only have the crewing for one vessel,” Shannon McCarthy, communications director for the Alaska Department of Transportation, reported in an email Dec. 31.

The draft summer schedule, released for public comment last week, shows the same level of service to Wrangell as in recent years: A weekly northbound sailing on Sundays and a weekly southbound stop on Wednesdays on the route between Bellingham and Skagway.

Comments on the proposed schedule are due Tuesday, Jan. 13, and can be emailed to [email protected].

Or the public can provide comments at a Zoom teleconference at 9 a.m. Jan. 13. The Zoom link is us06web.zoom.us/j/82608531772.

The Columbia and the Kennicott are the marine highway’s largest operational ships. The Columbia was tied up 2019-2023 to save money, while the Kennicott has sat idle during the summer months since 2023 for lack of crew.

The ferry system’s third large ship, the Matanuska, has been out of service since 2022, tied up in Ketchikan, and used as a floating hotel for crew while the state decides the fate of the 63-year-old ship, which is riddled with rusted steel.

The Matanuska is the oldest vessel in the fleet, though even the younger ones have spent considerable time in shipyards.

The 28-year-old Kennicott was out of service for most of 2025 for the installation of new generators.

In addition to the single ferry on the Bellingham-to-Southeast route, the draft summer 2026 schedule is pretty much the same as recent years, with the Hubbard running almost daily between Juneau, Haines and Skagway in Lynn Canal, and the LeConte running between Juneau and Gustavus, Hoonah, Tenakee and Pelican and Angoon.

The Marine Highway System will start accepting reservations online for summer travel as soon as management adopts a final schedule after the public comment period.

This story was originally published by the Wrangell Sentinel.