KETCHIKAN -- An independent ferry serving three communities in southeast Alaska has been sidelined by mechanical issues.
The Ketchikan Daily News reports the Rainforest Islander ferry is out of service at least through the end of the month or longer by a transmission issue.
Rainforest Islands Ferry general manager Kent Miller said the repair will be "quite expensive."
There is one other remaining person on the payroll, while the two-person boat crew and an office employee have been laid off while the boat is being repaired.
Miller said there were more than 100 reservations before the mechanical failure forced them to stop taking more. They've reached out to a jet boat operator to fulfill the existing reservations.
Miller says the company is surviving even though income is slow to come in.
The ferry operates between Coffman Cove on Prince of Wales Island, Wrangell and Petersburg.