The Wrangell borough assembly on Feb. 24 unanimously approved a three-year lease with JAG Marine Group, giving the company time to decide if it will proceed with development of a shipyard at the 6-Mile Mill property.

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.

If the governor really wanted to improve state ferry service for the 33 coastal communities that depend on the ships, he would get out of his office and go on a national recruiting tour to help find new hires to fill the crew vacancies that jeopardize service.