The fast ferry Chenega departs Whittier on its way to Valdez and Cordova. One Whittier-Valdez sailing this year had no passengers or vehicles. Photo by Ed Schoenfeld.
If no one’s scheduled to ride a state ferry, it won’t sail.
That’s a new rule being put into place by the Alaska Marine Highway System.
Ferry chief Mike Neussl says it will save money.
“We’re going to implement a policy to actually allow us a mechanism to bypass those ports if there is no traffic as an efficiency measure. (We’ll) save some fuel, reduce the risk of pulling in for unnecessary docking … and hopefully save the marine highway some operating expended in the process of doing that,” he says.
Empty sailings are rare. They only happened 10 times last year.
Neussl says they’re almost always at smaller port communities in Prince William Sound or the Kodiak area. That includes Port Lions, Chenega Bay, Tatitlek, Old Harbor and Ouzinke.
“Historically we have never seen a situation where a scheduled sailing resulted in no traffic getting on or off in Southeast anywhere. So, it’s not targeted there, although that’s not to say it might not apply there if we come up on a situation where there are no reservations,” he says.
Cancelling no-show sailings saves fuel, overtime and other operating costs. Labor contracts require crews to be paid whether a ferry sails or not.
The new policy goes into effect June 1st.
Neussl says the marine highway system informed community leaders to help spread the word. They also had a chance to provide input on the decision.
He says no one wants to leave passengers waiting at the dock.
“If you want to travel the best way to ensure that happens is to make a reservation and not just show up at the time the ship is supposed to be there and home to walk on,” he says.
He says ferries will sail even if there’s only one reservation. The booking must be made 24 hours before the scheduled sailing.
