The Alaska Marine Highway System’s 55-year-old Matanuska suffered a machinery malfunction between Bellingham, Washington and Haines, Alaska in January requiring that it be moved to the Vigor Industrial yard at Ketchikan, Alaska for warranty repairs.
The breakdown left a number of Alaskan communities without ferry service and pressured Alaskan lawmakers to advance a proposal for an additional $11.3 million for the ferry operation, which suffered a $43 million budget cut last year that left a number of ships out of service (see Pacific Maritime Magazine, Jan 2020).
