Rust & Reschedules
A new month brings rough news for AMHS. The LeConte needs more metal work than the Department of Transportation planned for—and more than is in the budget. On top of that, the Aurora is headed for scheduled maintenance and the department doesn't have the money to fix both right now. They've decided to stop work on both until they figure out which one to fix.
With the two brand-new dayboats waiting in Ketchikan for new side doors, the department announced they're suspending service to Gustavus, Angoon, Tenakee, and Pelican as of yesterday. And they're planning once-a-week service to Haines and Skagway and every-other-week to Hoonah.
That's less service than the not-enough in the fall schedule. It's way less service than the legislature thought we were appropriating for. I'm encouraging the department to come to the legislature for a supplemental so they can meet the minimum need.
I've been getting calls from Gustavus constituents whose return tickets got cancelled. They—and their cars—are stranded around the system. At this point we're past politics. The state of Alaska needs to keep its commitment to communities and individuals. I'll keep working with the department on ideas to get them home.
It's taken many years for our ships to hit this level of disrepair. But the crisis is at our door. First, we need to get stranded folks back home. Then we need to come up with a plan to keep enough ships running for decent year-round service. There's a budget fight ahead as we gear up for next session.
