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Ferry scheduled designed to fit budget

AMHS

    The Alaska Marine Highway System released its Summer 2020 schedule last week. Because of maintenance and budgeting issues in the current fiscal year, there has been no ferry service out of Homer to Seldovia or Kodiak this winter.

    “Well, we’ve had some downtime with unexpected maintenance issues this winter,” said Sam Dapcevich, the Department of Transportation’s public information officer for the ferry system in Juneau. “But by May 2, we should have four or five boats on line. Middle of May we’ll have six, and we're hoping when the Matanuska comes back on line in June we’ll have seven ferries running around coastal Alaska.”

    Homer will see the ferry Kennicot first at the end of April. It’s still about two months before the Tustumena arrives on May 2.

    “They’re both in overhaul. They’re getting maintenance work done. They’re getting their certificate of inspections renewed. That allows them to operate with passengers and vehicles service,” Dapcevich said. “The Kennicott will  be the first one out the door, with the Tustumena shortly after.”

    Dapcevich says funding, which had been subject to administration cuts last year, is in place for the summer season.

    “The schedule was created based on the budget we have right now,” he said. “And I’ve been looking at it the last few days, and it looks like we have a pretty robust schedule this summer.”

    You can find the new summer ferry schedule at FerryAlaska.com.

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