After 63 years, it could be time to scrap the Matanuska

The Matanuska state ferry. (Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities photo)

The following editorial appeared in the Wrangell Sentinel.

Nothing lasts forever, particularly steel hulls floating in salt water their entire life.

The Alaska state ferry Matanuska, built in a Seattle shipyard in 1963, has been tied up in Ketchikan since 2022, serving as a floating hotel for ferry workers. The fact that it needs almost 125,000 pounds of replacement steel to repair extensive rust damage doesn’t mean it can’t float; it means it can’t pass a U.S. Coast Guard inspection to take on passengers and go anywhere.

So it sits.

It’s costing the state about $800,000 a month for fuel, crew and other expenses to keep it shipshape enough for worker housing.

Last year’s estimate for steel work and all the other repairs and upgrades needed to put the Matanuska back to work totaled at least $45 million. That’s money the Alaska Marine Highway System does not have and should not spend to extend the life of a 63-year-old ship.

Nothing personal, but it’s time to untie the Matanuska from the dock, sell if off and find another option for crew housing at less cost than $800,000.

That’s the decision the Alaska Department of Transportation made when it published a notice last month, asking for offers on the ship by April 14.

And although the department is asking for proposals “to dispose of the vessel in a manner that honors its historic significance while allowing it to continue serving Alaska in new innovative ways,” it’s hard to imagine any fiscally responsible bidder willing to buy a ship that needs so much expensive repair work.

The state’s request said it “invites thoughtful proposals for preservation, adaptive reuse or continued maritime service that respects the vessel’s legacy and provides ongoing public value. Potential concepts may include maritime training, tourism, community or cultural use, education programming, museum or heritage preservation.”

All that sounds good, though probably wishful thinking. 

Maybe someone will want to buy the ship to use as summer worker housing during the busy tourism season. Maybe. If not that or some other reasonable offer, the state still needs to get out from under the cost of keeping it warm and tied to the dock in Ketchikan.

Sad as it is to say, the Matanuska, one of the three original ships that started off the Alaska Marine Highway System in the 1960s, and the last one still in state ownership, might be headed to a salvage yard.