Hopes for Promised Fast Ferry Dockings Fading Away
Hopes for Promised Fast Ferry Dockings Fading Away
By Lee Revis Editor, Valdez Star
VALDEZ- Officials for the state ferry system have cut the price of trips in Prince William Sound aboard the state ferry M/V Aurora in half in an effort to appease angry travelers and city governments, who are livid over the delays in service of new fast ferry the M/V Chenega, which was supposed to be home ported in Cordova. Robin Taylor, the Deputy Commissioner at DOT in charge of marine travel, made the announcement telephonically during an appearance on the popular KCHU radio call in talk show "Coffee Break" last Thursday as hopes for the long awaited dockings for the new ferry appeared to sail away into the sunset, possibly forever.
The high speed vessel, built at a cost of $34 million, was already months late in arriving to the state, causing headaches for some businesses in the tourist trade, particularly in Cordova, which suffered a second hard blow when the state announced it was pulling the Chenega from its scheduled winter jaunts across the Sound to test how it would perform in Southeast, specifically, between Ketchikan and Petersberg. To add to the list of delays, the Chenega is now mired down with labor problems, most notably, the lack of a crew.
The state, which started negotiations with the three maritime unions representing ferry workers, are at a standstill and the M/V Chenega is currently idly docked in Juneau. Negotiations were stalled as of Monday of this week, and the state is currently trying to recruit personnel to man the ferry outside of the unions.
In the meantime, many businesses in Cordova are claiming a massive loss of tourist dollars amid claims of mass cancellations of reservations for lodging in Cordova when it was announced the Chenega would miss its July 1 debut in Prince William Sound.
The City of Valdez, which hosts a brand new ferry dock and building erected specifically for the high speed ferry, is not optimistic about the ferry ever seeing service in Prince William Sound despite assurances from officials in Juneau that it will. A memo to the City Council from Interim City Manager Nancy Peterson dated late June of this year states, "…it is a reasonable assumption that the vessel will not be returned."
The M/V Chenega was originally slated to be home ported in Cordova and would service Valdez and Whittier starting May of this year. The new vessel is purported to be twice as fast as the older ferries in service on the Alaska Marine Highway, which would allow the ferry to run only 12 hours a day, and cut the travel time between Cordova and Valdez in half, allowing for a more tourist friendly schedule. "The general sentiment here is that we pretty much feel we have been betrayed," said Cordova Mayor Tim Joyce.
By Lee Revis Editor, Valdez Star
VALDEZ- Officials for the state ferry system have cut the price of trips in Prince William Sound aboard the state ferry M/V Aurora in half in an effort to appease angry travelers and city governments, who are livid over the delays in service of new fast ferry the M/V Chenega, which was supposed to be home ported in Cordova. Robin Taylor, the Deputy Commissioner at DOT in charge of marine travel, made the announcement telephonically during an appearance on the popular KCHU radio call in talk show "Coffee Break" last Thursday as hopes for the long awaited dockings for the new ferry appeared to sail away into the sunset, possibly forever.
The high speed vessel, built at a cost of $34 million, was already months late in arriving to the state, causing headaches for some businesses in the tourist trade, particularly in Cordova, which suffered a second hard blow when the state announced it was pulling the Chenega from its scheduled winter jaunts across the Sound to test how it would perform in Southeast, specifically, between Ketchikan and Petersberg. To add to the list of delays, the Chenega is now mired down with labor problems, most notably, the lack of a crew.
The state, which started negotiations with the three maritime unions representing ferry workers, are at a standstill and the M/V Chenega is currently idly docked in Juneau. Negotiations were stalled as of Monday of this week, and the state is currently trying to recruit personnel to man the ferry outside of the unions.
In the meantime, many businesses in Cordova are claiming a massive loss of tourist dollars amid claims of mass cancellations of reservations for lodging in Cordova when it was announced the Chenega would miss its July 1 debut in Prince William Sound.
The City of Valdez, which hosts a brand new ferry dock and building erected specifically for the high speed ferry, is not optimistic about the ferry ever seeing service in Prince William Sound despite assurances from officials in Juneau that it will. A memo to the City Council from Interim City Manager Nancy Peterson dated late June of this year states, "…it is a reasonable assumption that the vessel will not be returned."
The M/V Chenega was originally slated to be home ported in Cordova and would service Valdez and Whittier starting May of this year. The new vessel is purported to be twice as fast as the older ferries in service on the Alaska Marine Highway, which would allow the ferry to run only 12 hours a day, and cut the travel time between Cordova and Valdez in half, allowing for a more tourist friendly schedule. "The general sentiment here is that we pretty much feel we have been betrayed," said Cordova Mayor Tim Joyce.
posted by Newman at 6:08 PM
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