KETCHIKAN -- Alaska Ship & Drydock has received the contract to build a new airport ferry scheduled to begin operating in Tongass Narrows in early 2011.

The Ketchikan-based company submitted the low bid of about $7 million to build the Ken Eichner II airport ferry, according to ASD spokesman Doug Ward. The state awarded the basic bid plus two alternate items to the company for a total of about $7.4 million, Ward said.

The new, approximately 116-foot ferry will replace the aging borough ferry Bob Ellis on the short run that links the Ketchikan community with Ketchikan International Airport.