April 27, 2008
Sunday

The motor vessel Columbia's return to service along the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) has been delayed a week according to AMHS officials.

The 418-foot Columbia, originally slated to rejoin the fleet May 9, will now begin regular sailing May 16.

During the schedule alteration, the motor vessel Matanuska will remain on the Bellingham run for an additional week and its Prince Rupert, British Columbia passenger and vehicle traffic will be transferred to the vessel.

"Columbia has been undergoing a major crew accommodation renovation project in Portland, Ore," said Capt. John Falvey, General Manager, AMHS. During the final engineering design of the crew space heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, it was determined that fire control and boundary items had to be added to the system to comply with current Coast Guard regulations."

The additional fire control elements arose late in the Capital Improvement Project's (CIP) design phase, impacting adjacent renovation plans.

Columbia entered its CIP term in late August 2007, a month earlier than scheduled, after it experienced mechanical problems that forced AMHS officials to remove it from service and send it to a repair facility in Oregon.

"By alerting our travelers to this one week delay now, our customers have adequate time to contact any of our terminal or reservations agents so we can help them revise their bookings," Falvey emphasized.

Source of News:

Alaska Department of Transportation
www.dot.state.ak.us

 

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