Ferry system crew shortage continues into its eighth year

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

By Larry Persily

Wrangell Sentinel

The Alaska Marine Highway System has been struggling with less than full staffing since 2019, with last month’s numbers showing the state ferries were short 59 workers to fill jobs as masters, mates, engineers, seaman and stewards.

The shortage grows by about three dozen crew when measured against what would be needed to cover for workers out on personal leave, or due to injury or illness, according to a presentation by the Marine Highway System Director.

“Attention to employee recruitment and retention strategies is core to this stabilization,” Craig Tornga, ferry system director, said of the system’s long-range plan.

Tornga presented on Feb. 12 to the Southeast Conference, a 68-year-old organization that advocates for the region’s economy, including a dependable ferry system for coastal communities.

The ferries were short half a dozen masters, mates and pilots from full staffing as of Jan. 26, not counting the dozen or so additional workers that are needed to adequately cover temporary staffing shortages, Tornga reported.

The system, which is operating four vessels this winter and will go to six vessels starting May 1 for the busier summer travel season, was short 16 engineers, plus an additional dozen needed to cover for temporary gaps.

And the ferries were down 25 seaman, oilers, junior engineers and other entry-level licensed personnel as of Jan. 26, the director reported.

The system needs an additional 12 stewards to reach full staffing, according to an Alaska Department of Transportation spokesperson. 

In total, it adds up to 59 vacancies short of “total needed,” according to Tornga’s presentation. The system employed 502 crew as of Jan. 26, but needed at least 561, not counting additional staff for fill-in assignments.

For all of 2025, the system lost 67 employees in licensed and unlicensed jobs aboard the ships and hired 64, for a net loss of three crew.

The problems in hiring and retaining onboard crew come down to money, he told the Southeast Conference event in Juneau.

“Current salaries for licensed and certified positions are not as competitive as other maritime jobs on the market,” according to his presentation.

In addition, while the state of Alaska does not pay travel costs for crew to reach their assignments aboard ships, maritime employers that are competing for the same workers pay travel costs. “Travel costs reduce effective take-home pay.”

Losing workers faster than it can hire new employees is not a new problem. “We’re losing more (crew) than we’re able to retain,” Tornga said in a presentation to the Southeast Conference a year ago. In 2024, the system filled 31 positions but lost 45 workers to retirement and resignations.

The Department of Transportation cites “strengthen recruitment and digital outreach to support workforce stabilization” in its budget request backup submitted to the Legislature this year.

“Persistent labor market shortages for qualified maritime crew and shoreside roles elevate schedule risk and training load,” according to the budget request.

A section in the budget book, “Significant Changes in Results to be Delivered in Fiscal Year 2027,” provides no specific plans to “strengthen recruitment.”

The Kennicott, the newest of the fleet’s mainline vessels at 28 years old, will be held out of service this summer for the fourth year in a row due to a lack of a full crew to put the ship to work.

The gap between employee count and full staffing has shrunk since its worst days in 2021, when the ferry system reported it was short about 125 workers from the staffing level needed to keep its fleet fully operational and accommodate sick leave and other vacancies without excessive overtime.

The Marine Highway System managed to operate with reduced staffing as it cut back operations coming out of the pandemic travel restrictions in 2021-2022, but the crew shortages presented more challenges as the system wanted to get its ships back to work.

The ferry system from 2019 through early 2022 lost 155 more employees than it hired, the department told legislators in 2022.

• This story originally appeared in the Wrangell Sentinel.