The Alaska state ferry Columbia, which has been stuck in Ketchikan since Nov. 1 with engine trouble, is now scheduled to depart for Wrangell early Wednesday morning, Nov. 11.
That assumes a new engine piston arrives on Tuesday from the manufacturer in Germany and that repairs go as planned.
After the piston arrives, repairs will take about eight hours, Alaska Marine Highway System spokesman Gabe Strong told the Ketchikan Daily News on Monday.
Officials had expected the part to arrive Monday, but it was delayed clearing U.S. Customs in Seattle, Strong said.
The Columbia missed its Nov. 1 and 8 northbound stops and Nov. 4 and 11 southbound stops in Wrangell, and now, because of the repair delays, is switching to a different schedule for the rest of November.
Assuming repairs are completed and the ship goes back to work Wednesday, the ferry will switch to northbound stops in Wrangell on Wednesday mornings for the rest of the month and southbound stops on Saturday morning Nov. 14 and Friday evening Nov. 20 and 27.
The Columbia will be pulled from service for annual winter maintenance when it arrives in Ketchikan from Wrangell on Nov. 28.
On Dec. 2, the Kennicott will come out of layup and take over the route between Bellingham, Washington, and Southeast Alaska, returning to the usual schedule of northbound stops in Wrangell on Sundays and southbound on Wednesdays.
The Columbia is the largest vessel in the fleet and has been in service since 1974.
