PALMER -- The Matanuska-Susitna Borough has a new slate of potential buyers for the M/V Susitna ferry but first needs to spend $250,000 to fix water damage on the never-used craft.
The borough has received proposals from five "solid companies" to purchase the Susitna, manager John Moosey told the borough Assembly during a special meeting Wednesday in Palmer. The 195-foot U.S. Navy prototype has been berthed at Ward Cove near Ketchikan since 2011 and was never put into Cook Inlet passenger service as intended.
Heavy rains damaged the mothballed ferry's engines in February, and borough officials have said it will cost roughly $1 million to make necessary repairs. The ferry insurance policy comes with a $250,000 deductible.
Moosey on Wednesday told the Assembly he's hopeful a buyer will emerge, but the borough needs to make sure the purchase is guaranteed before it invests in repairs.
"I do not want to spend that money on a maybe," he said.