Columbia ferry resumes sailings Thursday after seven-month layup; Kennicott heads for maintenance

Delays in mainline stops this week between Washington and Alaska announced due to mechanical issue that disrupts Kennicott’s final spring round trip

The Columbia state ferry is scheduled to resume service this week between Alaska and Bellingham, Washington. (Screenshot from Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities video)

By Mark Sabbatini

Juneau Independent

The 53-year-old Columbia state ferry is set to resume mainline sailings between Alaska and Washington on Thursday, more than a month later than originally scheduled when it began a maintenance layup period last November, replacing the Kennicott which will now undergo maintenance.

The switch comes as the Kennicott developed a mechanical problem last Friday that forced the ship to return to its origin point of Bellingham, Washington, according to a service notice posted Saturday by the Alaska Marine Highway System. The Kennicott departed again at 3 a.m. Saturday, but "due to the late departure and heavy tidal movement this coming week, the schedule has been delayed significantly."

The Kennicott is now scheduled to dock in Juneau from 2-4 p.m. Tuesday before heading north, then 3-6 a.m. on Wednesday before heading toward Ketchikan. The ship is scheduled to arrive in Ketchikan at 12:45 a.m. on Thursday, after which all passengers will transfer to the Columbia, which is scheduled to depart at 3:45 a.m. and arrive in Bellingham at 8:45 p.m. Friday.

That arrival would be four hours later than the time in the published AMHS schedule for the Columbia as of Monday evening. That schedule also shows the vessel departing at 9:45 p.m., compared to a 6 p.m. departure the following week (June 26).

"I think it might have even already had its sea trial, so the Columbia is pretty much ready to go," Gabe Strong, a spokesperson for the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, said in an interview Monday.

While the Kennicott is scheduled to be in a long-term maintenance period once it reaches Ketchikan, the ship will be able to fill in for the Columbia or on other routes if needed during the coming months, Strong said.

The Columbia, which has about twice the vehicle deck space of the Kennicott, was originally scheduled to return from its winter layover on May 6, but that date was pushed back to May 20 and then June 5. Only one of the ships at a time has been operating, with ferry officials stating they don’t have enough crews for both vessels. That has resulted, among other things, in a cancellation of sailings across the Gulf of Alaska.

Strong said a disruption to smaller ship sailings in Southeast Alaska is also past, with the LeConte ferry back online after problems that kept it out of service for an extended period. The newer Hubbard ferry ended up alternating between its usual Juneau-Skagway-Haines day route and service to other Southeast communities normally handled by the Le Conte.

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.