Alaska Marine Highway System remains in a holding pattern on new terminal dock for Prince Rupert

The MV Malaspina at berth in Prince Rupert last year, AMHS continues
to do basic maintenance on the local dock facility while they await
some movement on the long term redevelopment of the Prince Rupert facilities

While we won't see the return of the vessels of the Alaska Marine Highway System until February in Prince Rupert harbour, the Prince Rupert operations remain on the mind of management of the Transportation link with Ketchikan.

As part of a fall overview on service issues for the ferry service, the AMHS offered up some notes on their service to the city, with the Marine Highway still awaiting word on the success or failure of a Buy America waiver request made almost one year ago.

As we outlined back in November, such has been the delay of the project from its original proposal during the Obama administration in 2014, that it now has been taken out of the inventory of the most recent State of Alaska Transportation Improvement planning list.

The project became a pawn of sorts in some cross border posturing over building supplies related to the much anticipated terminal project, which has yet to be resolved and to this point shows little in the way of momentum towards a start date.

While they await the verdict on the multi million dollar renovation plans, the ferry service has continued to conduct minor repairs and maintenance to ensure for safety. As well, the AMHS is looking at other potential docking options in Prince Rupert to provide for stable service between the two communities.

The most recent review of the Ferry Terminal complex is from 2016 and provided some of the notes related to the current state of the AMSH infrastructure in the community.

For the most part, there has not been much in the way of movement on the issue since we posted this item back in October of 2016, it offers up a review of the plans from 2014-2015 when the project that is now some kind of bi-national limbo was first proposed

Another note on the AMHS service to Prince Rupert relates to the travels of the MV Malaspina, which currently has a SOLAS waiver in place for the transit between Prince Rupert and Ketchikan,

The certification process is provided by the US Coast Guard with SOLAS, short for Safety of Life at Sea  a requirement for American based vessels that make an International port call

Alaska officials will have to apply for another waiver during the upcoming season, as the current waiver will expire on August 1.

For more items of note related to the AMHS services in Prince Rupert see our Transportation Archive page here.

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