I'll try to find the article but they are seriously talking about making one weekly Bellingham run in the summer.
SitNews - Opinion/Letter: One Bellingham boat all summer By Trygve Westergard
I saw another article that spelled it out in detail. If I find it again I'll post it as well
Bellingham sailings would be cut in half
KETCHIKAN (KDN) - A substantial reduction in the number of sailings between Southeast Alaska and Bellingham, Wash., is among the changes being proposed by the Alaska Department of Transportation for the state ferry system's 2008 summer schedule.
The agency wants to operate only the Alaska Marine Highway System ferry Columbia on one Bellingham run per week this summer. In the past, AMHS has operated two ferries per week on the Bellingham run, long considered to be a major earner of revenue for the ferry system.
DOT also is proposing to shift the AMHS fast ferry Fairweather out of Lynn Canal to service Sitka and Petersburg, replacing it in Lynn Canal (Juneau-Haines-Skagway) with the mainline ferry Malaspina, which would operate as a dayboat this summer season.
In addition, DOT proposes to operate the ferry Kennicott on a two-week-on, two-week-off schedule that would have the ship idle in Ketchikan during the two-week-off periods. The Kennicott schedule would reduce AMHS summer service across the Gulf of Alaska substantially.
DOT Deputy Commissioner Dennis Hardy wrote in a Jan. 2 letter to Alaska communities that the proposed operating plan was "designed to balance the needs for community service, staying within available funding, and maintaining regulatory and safety standards for the vessels."
DOT is accepting written comments about the proposed operating plan through Wednesday, according to Hardy's letter.
The public also can comment regarding the Southeast Alaska schedule during a DOT teleconference that will start at 2 p.m. Thursday.
AMHS summer schedules are in effect from May through September.
As proposed, the base schedule for Ketchikan would run as follows:
• Northbound ferries on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, (one ferry each day).
• Southbound ferries to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, departing on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays (one ferry each day).
• Southbound ferry (Columbia) to Bellingham departing Ketchikan on Wednesdays.
• The AMHS ferry Lituya would operate two roundtrips daily between Metlakatla and Ketchikan on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays.
During the two-week periods when the Kennicott would be in operation, the Kennicott would sail to Prince Rupert late on the first Sunday night/Monday morning of the cycle before returning to Ketchikan on Monday afternoon and continuing northbound that same day.
The Kennicott would return to Ketchikan southbound 12 days later on a Saturday and continue south to Prince Rupert that same day. The ferry would arrive back in Ketchikan early Sunday morning and begin its two-week layover in Ketchikan.
Further information about DOT's proposed schedule is available on the DOT Web site at:
Alaska Marine Highway System :: Alaska DOT&PF.
Public comments can be emailed to DOT at:
dot.amhs.comments@alaska.gov Discuss this story
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