(SitNews) - The Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) announced today that due to ongoing repairs the M/V Columbia will require additional time at Vigor Shipyard in Portland, Oregon. 

The Columbia went in for repairs after a suspected propeller strike with an unknown object last September. The parts necessary for the system required fabrication in Germany and took several months to manufacture. The propeller repairs were made and considered successful, and the vessel proceeded to sea trials to test the new system. While on sea trials the vessel experienced another mechanical failure related to the newly installed propeller system. 

Currently, technicians are working to diagnose the new failure and are developing a new repair plan. Once repairs are made the U.S. Coast Guard and the American Bureau of Shipping will certify the vessel as safe to operate.

This delay will impact some passengers. Affected passengers are being notified by AMHS staff now. The M/V Malaspina is currently running in the Columbia’s place, and will continue until the Columbia is back in service on July 26. The Malaspina is a smaller vessel, therefore some passengers will not get the cabins they reserved and some vehicle reservations will be cancelled. 

For more information, call your local terminal or the AMHS central reservations office at 1-907-465-3941 or toll free at 1-800-642-0066.

An updated schedule will be made available online at FerryAlaska.com. Service notices may be found at dot.alaska.gov/amhs/service_notices.shtml or by contacting your local terminal at 1-907-465-3941 or toll-free at 1-800-642-0066.

Editing by Mary Kauffman, SitNews

Source of News:

Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS)
www.dot.state.ak.us

 

Representations of fact and opinions in comments posted are solely those of the individual posters and do not represent the opinions of Sitnews.

SitNews ©2017
Stories In The News
Ketchikan, Alaska

Articles & photographs that appear in SitNews may be protected by copyright and may not be reprinted without written permission from and payment of any required fees to the proper sources. E-mail your news & photos to editor@sitnews.us Photographers choosing to submit photographs for publication to SitNews are in doing so granting their permission for publication and for archiving. SitNews does not sell photographs. All requests for purchasing a photograph will be emailed to the photographer.