The state of Alaska has hired a new leader for the Alaska Marine Highway System. Craig Tornga has been hired as the ferry system’s new marine director. In that role, he’ll oversee hundreds of ferry workers and a fleet of nine ships. The marine director position, formerly known as the AMHS General Manager, has been vacant since the retirement of Captain John Falvey in January.

According to the state Department of Transportation, Tornga has extensive experience in the marine industry and management. He started his maritime career sailing aboard ocean-going vessels with Crowley Marine Services, which transports fuel and supplies in Alaska. He spent over 20 years working his way up through that company.

Since 2017, Tornga has served as a senior vice president with  Kirby Offshore Marine in Houston, Texas. The company distributes petroleum products with a fleet of offshore tugs and barges.

The state worked with the Alaska Marine Highway Operations Board on the hire, which unanimously supported Tornga. Board Chair Shirley Marquardt said that the board is confident that Tornga’s “decades of experience and knowledge in the unique marine industry here in Alaska and Houston span every element needed” to manage the ferry system.

Tornga will take over a ferry system facing numerous challenges, from short-staffing to an aging fleet.

Tornga’s first day on the job will be Monday, April 3.

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About thirty people in Wrangell gathered at the local ferry terminal this afternoon, joining many around the state. Everyone had some story to tell.

Alaska Crossings is expecting 55 seasonal field guides to arrive in town next month. They’ll come from all over the U.S. and Canada to join the non-profit, which takes kids out on expedition trips in the area. But assistant manager Tom Wetor says some of the guides are stranded with their belongings or are booking last minute flights.

“We definitely have people that have been pretty frustrated, and call us up after the fact like ‘hey the ferry’s canceled’,” Wetor says. “And now here we are coming up on the time for those people to be making their way up here.”  

These employees received job offers and many made travel arrangements at the end of last year. But just last month, the entire Alaska Marine Highway System essentially shutdown.

The influx of these seasonal employees adds a lot to the town of 2,500. Anyone with a place to rent, outdoor gear for sale or even a pop up dinner can make some money off these newcomers. And Alaska Crossings couldn’t operate without them.

“With less and less ferry service, it’s more difficulty for people to move up here, especially with vehicles. Which is definitely a factor in us trying to attract good employees,” Wetor says.

The same can be said for tourists. Leslie Cummings runs a bed and breakfast.

“People will cancel because the ferry doesn’t come through, so they’re going to places where the ferry does go,” she says. “Or they’re just staying up in Haines and driving into the interior.”

Most of the folks I spoke with haven’t been stranded because of the lack of service. Wrangell gets jet and barge service, unlike many smaller southeast towns. But those who showed up remember a ferry service that was cheaper, more frequent and more reliable. And now, it’s nonexistent.

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The ferry Taku sails into the Wrangell Narrows on its way south. Now, the ferry has been sold to a Dubai-based company. (Photo by Ed Schoenfeld)

The future of the Alaska Marine Highway System is decidedly a Southeast issue.  The ferry system has seen cuts in service due to aging vessels and decreased funding. But Southeast legislators agree the system is still vital to folks in the region. 

Here’s Rep. Justin Parish.

“When you have a sports team that’s looking to travel. When you’ve got an elderly person that needs to get to town to get medical treatment, sometimes a flight isn’t going to be a realistic option,” Parish says.

But Alaska representatives have different opinions on funding and management for the system. Gov. Bill Walker’s proposed budget allots $88 million to the ferry system. A budget provision threatens that the ferry system won’t have enough funds to operate in the Spring. The governor’s proposal does fill that gap.

Rep. Dan Ortiz says that at this point, he’s not going to ask for more than that.  

 “I called the marine highway system and asked them flat out is this amount that the governor is proposing in his budget going to meet your needs and are you going to be able to provide services at the level that you have been providing services with this budget amount. And they said flat out yes, they would be able to do that and perhaps offer a few more weeks of service than before,” Ortiz says.

Stedman believes that’s still not enough.

“But it doesn’t replenish the Marine Highway Fund, which has been thoroughly depleted. I advocate a replenishment of those funds. And we’ll get thoroughly outvoted in the Senate, I expect, but the fight is broader than that,” Stedman says.

The Southeast Conference recommended last fall to make the ferry system its own public corporation, like the Alaska Railroad. Rep. Sam Kito says he will help draft a bill to do just that, though it might not succeed.

“There’s probably not a whole lot of motivation to make something like that happen in a single session. But the issue has to be out there in order for us to be able to discuss it. And so we’re working on trying to get a bill drafted so we can have something to discuss,” Kito says.

Ortiz needs to see a plan, but supports the idea of a public corporation.

“As a part of the Department of Transportation, as it sits right now it is part of a big department and it doesn’t necessarily receive the attention of that department to level it that it might if it were more independent,” Ortiz says.

Stedman has some concerns about incorporating the ferry system.

“One of the major concerns is I don’t want it easier for the rail-belt to isolate and not fund the Marine Highway. We need to protect the Marine Highway and not accelerate a restructuring of it to our demise,” Stedman says.

Sen. Dennis Egan said to Juneau assembly members last Friday, that he also thinks Southeast legislators will end up butting heads with those from the interior when it comes to the ferry system.    

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The ferry Malaspina awaits passengers at Juneau’s Auke Bay ferry terminal. Photo by Ed Schoenfeld/CoastAlaska.

The Alaska Marine Highway System is canceling ferry service to Prince Rupert for two months. The ferry, Malaspina, is out of operation due to needed repairs, which is affecting the ferry schedule. 

Marine highway officials say the Malaspina needs more repairs than expected.

It was brought in for its annual overhaul and certification in October. The vessel was set to be back in service by late December. But it needs extensive steel replacement and work to both propeller hubs. Now it is scheduled to get back on its route in late spring.

Limited ferry service will be offered for two months starting Dec. 22. Southeast Alaska communities will see one ferry a week and sailings to and from Prince Rupert will be canceled.

Aurah Landau is a spokeswoman for the Alaska Marine Highway.

“The Marine Highway System is contacting all affected passengers, and folks who are traveling to Prince Rupert will have the option to go to Bellingham instead,” Landau says.

Bellingham and Price Rupert are the marine highway’s two ports that directly connect to the Lower 48’s highway system. Rupert is in British Columbia, making it the closer option to get to mainland roads. Bellingham is in Washington.

Landau says the ferries Columbia and LeConte will cover much of the Malaspina’s route.

 “The marine highway rescheduled service to maximize the port calls with all available vessels,” she says.

Also currently in repairs, the Kennicott will be back in late February. Then service will resume as normal.

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A marine highway staffer watches as passengers and dogs reboard the ferry Matanuska before departing Wrangell Jan. 16, 2013. (Ed Schoenfeld/CoastAlaska News)

State budget-writers have reversed one of cuts made to the Alaska Marine Highway System.

A conference committee negotiating the operating budget over the weekend restored $1.7 million cut by the Senate. But it let stand an $8 million reduction made by the House. When the governor’s cuts are added in, the total is about $15 million, plus lost revenue from canceled sailings.

Capt. Mike Neussl is the state Department of Transportation’s deputy commissioner overseeing ferries.

“It was reassuring to see that some of those cuts the Senate had made were restored. But until the final bill is done and we do a final analysis of that final funded amount, in terms of the operating schedule and how much service we can provide, we don’t know exactly what the cuts will be,” he says.

Lawmakers may further increase funding during last-minute negotiations.

Neussl says marine highway staff will revise the next fiscal year’s schedule, which begins in July, once the budget becomes final. That will take about a week.

He says earlier projections will be fine-tuned to make sure all port communities continue to receive service.

“We made the cuts with a fairly blunt instrument. We had short notice and large amounts of cuts to make. So we made cuts that were probably less strategically thought out than they would have been if we had more time to make them,” he says.

Once the schedule is done, reservations staff will contact those who booked tickets on canceled sailings. The online reservations system will be shut down to keep it from crashing as travelers try to rebook tickets.

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