Alaska Ocean-going Ferry Project: Seattle Consultants Chosen

Naval engineering firm Glosten and Associates of Seattle will guide the state as it plans a new ocean-going ferry to replace the 49-year-old ferry Tustumena, reports the 'Kodiak Daily Mirror', citing news from a meeting of the state's ferry advisory board in Anchorage.

The state is prepared to spend up to $10 million designing the Tustumena, money that has been reserved from the state's vessel replacement fund.

The design study report will recommend a particular vessel design, and the state may proceed with procurement at that point.

According to documents presented at the meeting, the design team will visit ferry terminals in December, then hold public meetings in January 2014, with meetings in Homer, Kodiak and Dutch Harbor, also Unalaska Mayor Shirley Marquardt, a member of the advisory board, asked whether the state could also hold a meeting in King Cove, one of the Alaska Peninsula communities the Tustumena serves.

The specifications of the new Tustumena include a minimum length of 296 feet. In order to fit within some docks on the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak archipelago, the ship cannot be longer than 325 feet. The new ship is expected to have a cruising speed of 14 knots and the ability to carry 174 passengers and 36 vehicles.

Source: Kodiak Daily Mirror