Opinions

Groundhog Day for the Alaska ferry system

Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposal to establish a new advisory board to chart a course for the future of Alaska’s public ferry system is baby food to the problem when steak and potatoes (and realistically, an expensive merlot) is needed. Not surprisingly, the governor is following multiple presidential administrations as they dealt with the Coast Guard’s needs to recapitalize their fleet. The federal response to the costly solution was to seek funding from Congress to authorize a study in the next year’s budget, then study and carefully hold hearings on the results, followed by letting the General Accounting Office staff have plenty of time to study the results and ask more questions, then usually place any solutions on hold due to upcoming elections. By the time the dust settled, if the new administration was willing to even consider the Coast Guards’ needs, the study would be considered outdated and the process would start again.

Unexpected failure, like when your house is on fire and the fire truck won’t start, helps leadership make a difficult decision. In the Coast Guard’s case, that pivotal event occurred after a phone call from the Mayor of Nome to the leadership of the Coast Guard. She asked for help in getting a critical shipload of fuel delivered through the ice, as the one operational major icebreaker was returning from its primary mission of scientific support to its homeport in Seattle. Also in the Coast Guards’ favor was the changing geopolitical situation where China and Russia were recapitalizing their fleet, investing in maintenance, and commencing an icebreaker building program to establish maritime dominance in the Arctic. When it got to the point the Coast Guard was considering renting icebreakers from other nations, resulting in an exorbitant bill, the federal government, with the continued support from the Alaska delegation in Washington, D.C., acted to resolve the longstanding problem — new ships cost a lot of money, take a long time to build and often require new or modified piers, ramps, etc., as is the case with Alaska ferries.

Meanwhile, far from Beijing, Moscow and Washington, D.C., residents of Hoonah, Tatitlek and False Pass, as well as many other remote Alaska communities, watch with trepidation as the maritime lifeline to a decent standard of living, access to health care, student engagement and many other needs that are taken for granted in Anchorage limps far beyond its expected service life. In other words, there is smoke coming out of the windows of many of the ferries — it might be past the time for some serious spending.

Just as the Coast Guard leadership testified repeatedly, old ships cost a huge amount of money to maintain. Obtaining replacement parts become more difficult. For example, one needed part to repair Coast Guard Cutter Storis, homeported in Kodiak, was obtained from the Smithsonian, as no commercial source had the knowledge or was willing to build the part. Additionally, the number of skilled workers who were proficient in maintaining the antiquated systems dwindled as retirements, infirmities and eventually death reduced the number of technicians who were able to troubleshoot then repair what was modern many decades ago.

Like propulsion, navigation, sewage and other complex shipboard systems, the infrastructure and piers used by the mariners and users of the ferries is also costly to maintain. When budgets are tight, delaying maintenance to the ferry systems’ buildings, piers, ramps and more is one common strategy Alaskans have seen over and over. Basically, the management approach to replacing the aged ferries often been “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” At other times, the solution has been applying a costly Band-Aid to the problem.

Creating a new advisory board to again study the problem simply delays what is needed from the governor and the Legislature. Instead, the governor’s proposal is akin to discovering a flat tire on his truck and making the decision it’s time to rotate the tires. Given the current desire of many Alaskans to reduce the cost of Alaska government and services, increase the size of the Permanent Fund dividend, fix our school buildings, improve/reduce the cost of our health care and more, a huge bill to modernize and recapitalize Alaska’s ferry system, serving a comparatively small number of Alaskans, would seem likely to land with a loud thud in Juneau.

Captain ‘Bark’ Lloyd is a retired Coast Guard officer who managed the West Coast fleet for the Coast Guard, worked in Fleet Acquisition at CG Headquarters, and commanded multiple ships serving in the North Pacific, Bering Sea, and Arctic waters. He was also the Chief of Operations for the CG in Alaska and the project officer for the fuel delivery to Nome. He and his family have used the AMHS during multiple moves to and from Kodiak. He lives in Anchorage.

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