SitNews - Building the Stikine Photograph by Dave McNary

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Front Page Photo

Building the Stikine
Photograph by Dave McNary
Story by M.C. Kauffman

October 26, 2005
Wednesday

Ketchikan, Alaska (SitNews) - As Dakota Creek Industries' cranes lift the pilot house in place, the Stikine begins to look more like a ferry. This new ferry, which will be in service in Alaska, will be the second in the fleet of the Prince of Wales Inter-Island Ferry Authority.

Mid-October, employees of Dakota Creek Industries hoisted the 250,000-pound
pilot house onto the top of the Stikine
Photograph by Dave McNary

Dakota Creek Industries, located in Anacortes, Washington, began the project in February 2005 and expects to be finished with the Stikine and deliver her by March 2006. The M/V Stikine is being built in the same Anacortes shipyard as the M/V Prince of Wales.

Funded through a $17 million federal grant, the passenger and car ferry will serve the IFA's northern route, linking Coffman Cove, Wrangell and Petersburg.. The ferry will hold 30 standard vehicles and will be licensed for 195 passengers. When the vessel is complete it will weigh 990-tons with a length of 200-feet. The Stikine can be crewed by five people and it is projected to have a 20- to 30-year economic life.

Enhancements to the new vessel include an upgraded passenger deck layout, larger wheelhouse with enclosed bridge wings, more powerful bow thruster and a third generator.

According to the Anacortes American, Dakota Creek Industries started work on the vessel in February with about 80 employees working on the project. Many of the construction crew members lined the docks during the hoisting of the pilot house in mid-October although they had already completed their shifts. Dick Nelson, DCI president, said they stayed to watch because they are proud of what they do.

Side-view of the M/V Stikine which is unconstruction in Anacortes, WA.
Photograph by Dave McNary

After the steel plating is finished, the boat will be painted a dark green. The vessel will be launched around Christmas, and after a final outfitting, sea trials and testing the mechanics, the ship will be delivered in March.

The Stikine is the second vessel Dakota Creek Industries has built for the Inter-Island Ferry Authority, an Alaskan Port Authority. The ferry vessel Prince of Wales was built several years ago.

Dakota Creek Industries bids large projects all over, custom building boats from company-supplied designs.

On the Web:

Building the POW Ferry Stikine Photos by Dave McNary
http://community.webshots.com/album/478145536qYxDUZ/0