MV Tustumena

M/V ''Tustumena'' is a mainline ferry vessel for the Alaska Marine Highway System.

''Tustumena'' was constructed in 1963 by Christy Corporation in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin and refurbished in 1969 in San Francisco. As the only mainline ferry in South-central Alaska and the Aleutian Chain, it principally runs between Kodiak, Seldovia, Port Lions, and Homer with Homer providing a road link to the other communities on the Kenai Peninsula. The only interruptions from this schedule occur when making a voyage out the Aleutian Chain (the Aleutian Chain run consists of the communities of Akutan, Chignik, Cold Bay, False Pass, King Cove, Sand Point, and Unalaska/Dutch Harbor) which the vessel undergoes eight times a year all of which occur during the summer as winter weather becomes too dangerous.

Because of the exposed and unstable parts of Alaska it plies, the ''Tustumena'' is an accredited ocean-going vessel, a quality it shares exclusively with the ''Kennicott''. As such, the ''Tustumena'' is replaced by the when it undergoes annual maintenance.

The ''Tustumena'' is the smallest AMHS vessel to have cabins. The ''Tustumenas amenities include a full service dining room; cocktail lounge and bar (which is now closed; there is wine and beer service at meals); solarium; forward, aft, movie, and business lounges; eight four-berth cabins and 18 two-berth cabins. The large black structure on the aft portion of the vessel is a car elevator. It is used in all communities where there is not a dedicated ramp loading directly into the car deck. While the car elevator for the ''Tustumena'' is exposed on the exterior, the ''Kennicott'' car elevator is located inside the vessel.

Future

Due to its age and frequent need for repairs, the ship is nicknamed the ''Rusty Tusty''.Herbert, Shelby
Alaska Marine Highway System awarded $132 million in federal grants to revitalize ferries
KFSK December 7, 2023

In the fall of 2012, ''Tustumena'' went into scheduled maintenance at the dry-docks of Seward Alaska. Several found issues pushed her return from service from the original May 29th to a planned July 23rd, leaving the state without a ship available to do her run. The return to service was delayed twice more, due to the discovery of serious issues with the vessel's steel and further delays at the shipyard. The ship missed the entire summer season and was not returned to service until October. Given the age of the vessel, and her extended time in dry-dock, the State is looking to find or build a replacement vessel, design work began in the fall of 2013 but was not completed until early 2016. The vessel is planned to be largely funded by the federally-funded ''Alaska Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan'', and is not slated to begin construction before 2019.

In 2017, scheduled repairs once again revealed serious issues. It was found that the steel on the car deck needed to be replaced entirely and the vessel was delayed from returning to service. During the course of that work being done, rusted and pitted steel was also discovered in the engine room,and those repairs caused the ferry to miss the bulk of the summer season. The M/V Kennicott provided services between Homer and Seldovia and Kodiak on a limited schedule. A private carrier provided freight service to the Aleutian islands but was not permitted for passenger transport.Armstrong, Michael
Tustumena return delayed until July 18
Homer News, 05/11/2017

In 2023 the state received a grant for ferry revitalization via the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a large portion of which is marked to be used to replace ''Tustumena'' with a hybrid diesel-electric ferry, a first for Alaska.

References

External links

Official Alaska Marine Highway System website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tustumena
Alaska Marine Highway System vessels
1963 ships
Ships built in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin