Tom Briggs News

The wife of Alaska’s senior senator Ted Stevens, is scheduled to christen Alaska's latest fast ferry at the Derecktor Shipyard in Bridgeport, Conn. The ship -- M/V Chenega -- is scheduled to begin service in Alaska’s Prince William Sound in late spring. Designed by Nigel Gee and built by Derecktor Shipyard, the vessel is the second aluminum passenger and vehicle carrying catamaran built for the state. Once it is put into service, it will provide daily service between its homeport of Cordova and the surface highway accessible communities of Valdez and Whittier -- at travel times of almost half those of most Alaska Marine Highway vessels.

The wife of Alaska’s senior senator Ted Stevens, christened Alaska’s second fast ferry at the Derecktor Shipyard in Bridgeport, Conn. The ship -- M/V Chenega -- is scheduled to begin service in Alaska’s Prince William Sound in late spring. Designed by Nigel Gee and built by Derecktor Shipyard, the vessel is the second aluminum passenger and vehicle carrying catamaran built for the state. Once it is put into service, it will provide daily service between its homeport of Cordova and the surface highway accessible communities of Valdez and Whittier -- at travel times of almost half those of most Alaska Marine Highway vessels. The name Chenega was nominated by sixth grader Emily Oskolkoff of Ninilchik School in the Kenai School District who won a Statewide Essay contest to name the new ferry.