An entire year after a failure of a prior offer the state of Alaska is preparing to hire an industrial shipyard to build an alternative for the vessel Tustumena.
The new ferry is anticipated to cost approximately $325 million and the federal government taking care of most of the costs, and it would grant Alaska the first mainline ferry in decades.
In an interview in conjunction with an executive of the Alaska Marine Highway Operations Board on Friday, the director of the ferry system Craig Tornga said the ferry system is still in the process of submitting the request for suggestions next month.
“We’re looking to have this done so that we can have this issue out on the street by at the close of September as we’d prefer to have the yard awarded the yard before the end of the year” the official said.
The present Tustumena was constructed in 1964, and has sailed one of the most rough ferry routes around the globe for more than six years.
It’ll have to be working for long enough The ship’s replacement isn’t anticipated before 2027.
The Tustumena regularly transports passengers, cargo, and cars between Homer to Kodiak and then on across to the Alaska Peninsula to Unalaska, however, the rough seas and corrosion from the ocean have taken a cost.
In 2016, a section of the vessel’s hull was damaged to the point that ferry systems was able to stop it from storms that could cause severe damage. These issues have been fixed and the vessel is in good condition to sail, however the lifespan of the vessel is now limited.
The state owns two Alaska-class ferry vessels constructed in Ketchikan however, these vessels were built to operate in the narrow waters of the northern part of Southeast Alaska and needed extensive adjustments before they could travel longer distances and operate to sail in Prince William Sound.
They’re not as efficient as the mainline ferry vessels of the state and, even with their changes, the vessels aren’t working as well.
The ferry Hubbard was unable to function immediately following the delivery of Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg Haines earlier in the month. And after nearly a full week without sailings, it was waiting for repairs.
The Tustumena replacement is more complex than the Alaska-class ferries and the state cannot afford the same issues with the new vessel ferry chief Keith Hillard told the operations board in July.
“It’s not something we’d like to do in a hurry. We want to have something that goes out as a solid package, or else it’s going cost the state additional money.” He said.
The proposed vessel has already sparked some concern. There were some concerns about the proposed ship. Department of Transportation put the project on hold for a while during the term of Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s first term, before inviting bids from the shipyards earlier in the year.
Federal law requires an American shipyard construct the new Tustumena and, in spite of a nationwide appeal, no shipyard offered an offer and the state pulled its request for bids in the month of July of last year.
When he spoke to the board of operations, Tornga said the proposed management agreement was towards the state’s favor that there was no shipyard would ever sign it.
The language has been revised and the president appeared confident in his briefing to the board on Friday.
The solicitation for proposals will be issued even though the design of the ship hasn’t been approved. Since the design process began the ship’s propulsion system has been modified three times the most recent time in May of this year.
It’s changed from a traditional diesel-powered ship to a diesel-electric design, and is now an hybrid diesel-electric that can be running (for shorter distances) using battery power only.
This third change led to an abrupt resignation from Greg Jennings, DOT’s project liaison, who was critical of the design’s increasing complexity.
In an open letter in a letter to state ferry officials as well as lawmakers from the state, he wrote that, when he got aboard 2027 was an achievable delivery date.
“Now I am not sure, but I believe that 2027 is a non-starter and the uncertainty regarding design requirements currently in the plan makes even 2028’s delivery almost impossibly,” he said.
Jennings refused to speak with reporters for more information.
Tornga along with others DOT officials have resisted against Jennings critics, insisting that the project is on track.
No ferryboard members who were contacted for this story expressed concern about the direction taken by the project and neither did legislators from the state acquainted with Jennings the letter.
In a statement on of Friday’s meeting, Tornga told board members that hiring a shipyard next year will enable the yard to take part in the final design process and to begin placing orders for components.
“If you’re working together with your yard they could begin to work on the design engineering and production for the yard, and if there are any items that are long lead this is what we’re working on. We’re actually getting ready to start construction in 2024.” He said.
If asked about when the brand new Tustumena will be complete, Tornga said, “It is likely to be in 2027. This is a guess at the moment. In the meantime, until we have an estimate from a yard that gives us their complete timetable, we’re guessing at the moment.”
If everything goes as planned, other new ferries will follow the Tustumena replacement. A long-range plan draft calls for another ocean-going vessel to take over the Matanuska.
Tornga suggested that it could be a reason to encourage shipyards that bid for this Tustumena replacement.
“No shipyard would like to construct just one piece of anything, so we’re trying to get (the Matanuska replacement) right in front of the original,” he said in July.
The story was originally published in Alaska Beacon and is republished here with permission.
