The [M/V] Tustumena ferry’s return to service has been further delayed, after already being laid up for weeks in the shipyard in Seward for repairs.
The Alaska Marine Highway System announced on May 2, the Tustumena now won’t sail to Kodiak until Monday, May 13, leaving Homer in the afternoon at 1:00 p.m. and arriving in Kodiak later that evening around 10:00 p.m.
Originally the Tusty was scheduled to sail to Kodiak later this week on May 9. Passengers will now have to wait longer due to more work required on the vessel’s propulsion shaft alignment, along with a delay in the vessel meeting its annual Certificate of Inspection requirements.
The 60-year-old mainline ferry was already receiving repairs for areas of cracked and rusted steelacross various parts of the vessel. Director of the marine highway system, Craig Tornga, said during a recent AMHS Zoom teleconference on April 22, that the costs to repair the aging fleet outweigh the costs of replacing them altogether. But the current ferries still provide essential service to coastal Alaskans while replacement vessels are being built.
“There’s no doubt that when you have something this age, and the metal is old, it’s fatigued; it’s not good money spent but it is what we have to do to continue to provide the service until we have the new vessels,” Tornga explained.
The Tustumena Replacement Vessel [TRV] is budgeted for construction but the project has yet to go out to bid.
If the Tustumena does sail to Kodiak next week as scheduled, it won’t be stopping in the communities of Port Lions or Ouzinkie as originally planned. For the latest updates and schedule changes, go online to AMHS’s website, FerryAlaska.com.