Its Alaska Marine Highway route that connects Prince Rupert, British Columbia has been in decline over the last few times because of restrictions regarding pandemics as well as fleet issues and the absence of staff prevented the road connecting Southeast and Canada from operating regularly.
However, false information that posted on social media over the weekend before Halloween led to panic about the possibility of the route being shut down completely.
The Alaska Department of Transportation, that is responsible for the Alaska Marine Highway, says the ferry route that connects Alaska to Prince Rupert, B.C. will not be changing.
“We aren’t stopping Prince Rupert on a permanent basis,” says Sam Dapcevich who is a representative of the Department of Transportation. “We’re not planning to go there now, primarily due to the fact that we don’t have enough crew resources required to send to the Kennicott there. However, we’re looking forward to opening the port when we have the resources to make it happen.”
A Facebook post that was written as an announcement by a user called Robbie Marionson on Oct. 1 said that the staff and the management of Prince Rupert terminal were cleaning out personal belongings. Prince Rupert terminal were clearing out personal belongings as the terminal was shutting down for good. The post was not a true news release. The article has since been removed.
The post sparked a storm over the popular social media website and resulted in response from officials of the Southeast legislator Rep. Dan Ortiz and the Alaska Department of Transportation.
In the end the simplest way, it’s not true.
The Prince Rupert terminal is not ever going to close. However, it’s not being operated currently. Dapcevich claims that in the last few months, the terminal has been maintained by part-time workers However, their contracts expired.
He claims that the marine highways system is working to negotiate an agreement for a new one.
A fake news release claimed the terminal would be shut down because Alaska Marine Highway management allowed the crucial international safety certification that expired on the Kennicott. It’s among the biggest ferry lines in Alaska’s fleet, and is one of two ferries that is able to be docked in Canada. The other one is the Matanuska that is undergoing a an overhaul majorly. With no crew to support the Kennicott Ferries, both of them remain stranded in Ketchikan for several months.
Since that the Prince Rupert terminal is an international port of call, Alaska ferries that tie up there have to comply with certain international standards established through the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea. These SOLAS standards cover a number of specifications, such as the way in which the vessel itself is constructed. This is why only Kennicott and Matanuska are able to serve the route – they’re the only two Alaska ferryboats that are that are built according to the correct standards.
Certain Kennicott certificates required for international travel run out in April. The SOLAS certifications are monitored by the U.S. Coast Guard. However, Dapcevich insists that this doesn’t mean that the Kennicott’s SOLAS certification is a lapse.
“The ship was constructed to SOLAS standards and we keep the security standard up to date,” Dapcevich says. “So there’s no reason for the license that’s due to expire or something like that. The ship is certified.”
Dapcevich states that it’s standard to hold off renewing SOLAS as well as other sailing certifications until a vessel is taken out of the yard and returned to service, because most certificates are only valid for twelve months. The Coast Guard spokesperson confirmed that it’s standard for ships to delay the renew certificates until they are they leave the yard.
In the end I think the blog post by Marionson contained a few truths. Marionson’s post was a bit misleading. Prince Rupert terminal is unmanned because of a contract that has expired however, it’s this isn’t because it’s abandoned, as the state claims. The Kennicott is located in the shipyard and hasn’t got certified certificates that have been updated, but it’s a standard procedure for vessels that aren’t currently in operation. The lack of service along that route caused people to be stranded in the past few months however, it appears that the Alaska Department of Transportation continues to declare publicly that it will to return the service from Prince Rupert in the future.
The website of the marine highway states that it is expected to return in mid-November. Kennicott is scheduled to resume service by the middle of November but it doesn’t mean that there will be the Prince Rupert stop.
Marionson has not responded to requests for comments.
