(SitNews) Ketchikan, Alaska – The Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) has launched a redesigned and updated website featuring real-time vessel tracking.

Nine of the eleven ferries in the AMHS fleet have been outfitted with satellite tracking hardware making it possible to view and track the location of each vessel in real time from the Alaska Marine Highway website at FerryAlaska.com. The two fast ferries, Chenega and Fairweather, are expected to be equipped with satellite communication equipment in the coming year.

Visitors to the new website will find the System Map on the main navigation page under the “Plan a Trip” tab. The tracking application makes it easy to search for vessels by name using a dropdown menu at the top of the page, and vessel icons can be clicked to reveal details about each ship. Available information includes navigation status, location, course, speed, destination, estimated time of arrival, and time of last update. Locating and learning about Alaska communities served by the Marine Highway is also made easy with images, terminal locations, and demographic information available for each city served.

“This tool will be very useful for people who want to know when a ship will arrive at a particular terminal” said Captain Michael Neussl, the DOT&PF Deputy Commissioner for Marine Operations. “They will be able to see it actually approach the dock in real time with this tool.”

The Department of Transportation and Public Facilities oversees 254 airports, 11 ferries serving 33 communities, 5,700 miles of highway, and 660 public facilities throughout the state of Alaska.

On the Web:

Real-time vessel tracking
http://www.dot.state.ak.us/amhs/map.shtml

Source of News: 

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

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Ketchikan, Alaska

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