Alaska Marine Highway System outlines long-range plan amid staffing, shipyard delays and new safety tracking

Juneau — The Alaska Marine Highway System told the Alaska House Transportation Committee on Feb. 11 that it has begun formal safety tracking, is implementing a long-range plan and faces ongoing shipyard delays and staffing shortfalls that have reduced available vessels for Southeast Alaska service this year.

"Safety is our license to operate," Director Craig Tornga said as he opened a presentation summarizing 2024 safety data, maintenance and capital projects. He told the committee AMHS began tracking safety statistics in 2024 and set a goal of "no harm to people, environment, and equipment." Tornga said AMHS recorded 51 crew injuries in 2024, mostly strains or slip/trip/fall incidents; six vehicle spills were contained at terminals and "we had no spills to the water in 2024." He added the system recorded no dock or vessel damage for 2024.

The update stressed reliability and maintenance pressures caused by an aging fleet. Tornga said extended shipyard work removed multiple vessels from service last year — including La Conte, Tustamina, Aurora, Columbia and others — largely because inspections found steel plate that did not meet minimum thickness and had to be cut out and replaced. Columbia required a months-long replacement of a raw-water fire-main pipe to meet Coast Guard safety requirements, Tornga said; the Aurora will need a full replacement before its next allowed operating interval. La Conte remains "our biggest problem" because of repeated car-deck steel repairs, Tornga told the committee, and the department moved Hubbard's shipyard period forward to limit a summer gap in service.

Tornga said the system fully implemented a computer maintenance management system (CMMS) in 2024 to support preventive maintenance, generate work-order dashboards and track parts and OEM maintenance intervals. For vessels that were operating, AMHS reported less than 2% downtime (more than 98% uptime), Tornga said, while noting some yard-related outages were still lengthy — one bow-thruster failure on the Tustamina kept that vessel out about eight to 10 days.

Staffing and labor were a major focus in committee questions. Tornga said AMHS hired several officers but lost more: "We did hire seven third mates, and we've lost 11," he said. He described shortages in the engineering department and high turnover among steward positions. Tornga attributed part of the workforce challenge to national marine-industry shortages and the system's status as a training ground for higher-paying maritime jobs, and said collective bargaining agreements limit the department's ability to offer pay or benefit changes outside bargaining: "Everything... would have to be run through as an amendment, or the form they use here is, letter LOA," Tornga told Representative McCabe when asked whether the department can make changes outside contract provisions.

Unions cited in the presentation included the Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association (MEBA) and the Inland Boatmen/Boatmen's unions (IBU); Tornga said MEBA's hiring hall has helped fill some engineering shifts but that halls across the industry are thin because of national shortages. Tornga also described recruitment efforts and local partnerships: he said AMHS is preparing memoranda of understanding with in-state communities and tribal entities — citing the Ketchikan Indian Community and Hoonah as examples — to support workforce development and reduce out-of-state travel burdens for crew.

On capital projects and federally funded vessel work, AMHS told the committee that several projects are underway or planned: Tazlina crew quarters work paused while funding was reclassified from the Federal Highway Administration to the Federal Transit Administration and the department confirmed it must meet FTA requirements for rolling stock (including CFR and Buy America rules) rather than FHWA construction rules. Tornga said an RFP for design of a low/no-emissions ferry will be advertised the week of the hearing, and that the mainline replacement vessel design — funded but not fully detailed in the presentation — is expected to enter procurement before the end of the second quarter. He said AMHS must demonstrate a target of roughly 70% domestic content under Buy America rules for components and that the FTA will audit those certifications before final award.

Tornga described vessel construction timelines as long: shipyard construction for a vessel is roughly a 30-month process with an added 12-month warranty period, and he said full fleet replacement and staging would continue into the late 2020s. He said the long-range plan draft would be released for a 30-day public comment period before finalization.

Committee members asked about customer-facing systems and passenger service. Tornga said AMHS is piloting Starlink satellite internet on several vessels and plans to install customer Wi-Fi across the fleet over two to three years. He acknowledged frustrations with the reservation system and said AMHS hired IT staff and fixed boarding scanners so ticketing can move toward a true scan-and-go model; the department is also adding a required zip-code field to online bookings to improve trip-origin data for future marketing and scheduling.

Members also raised community access concerns. Representative Mina noted the importance of reliable service to Sitka because of medical transport; Tornga said Sitka currently receives weekly calls by the mainline vessel and said the long-range plan recommends infrastructure changes (for example, a road at Warm Springs and improvements to docking) that could enable day-boat coverage and more frequent service. Tornga said expansion into the Bering Sea was not part of the long-range plan presented.

The committee received other operational details in discussion, including: use of spare crews in shipyards for painting and maintenance, a pilot retiree program that has allowed some retired mariners to return temporarily to duty, and use of MEBA hiring halls and supplemental overtime to cover engineering needs. Tornga declined to provide firm cost figures for some design work in the hearing; the presentation noted the design funding for the mainline replacement vessel but did not specify an exact dollar amount in committee testimony.

The department did not present any motions or formal committee votes on AMHS matters at the Feb. 11 meeting. Tornga said AMHS will publish a draft of the long-range plan for public comment before finalizing it and will continue coordinating with the FTA on procurement and Buy America certification.

A draft of the long-range plan is expected before the end of the month, with a 30-day public comment period to follow. The House Transportation Committee’s next meeting was scheduled for Feb. 13; the AMHS presentation closed after roughly 45 minutes of slides and a prolonged committee question-and-answer period.