Homer, Seldovia and Kodiak would see a dramatic decrease in ferry service and Port Lions would be cut off entirely next winter under a plan by the Alaska Marine Highway System to cut costs.
Homer, Seldovia and Kodiak service would be reduced to once a month beginning Nov. 7, 2008, when the M/V Kennicott takes over for the M/V Tustumena, which is scheduled to be overhauled.
In typical winters, one of the ferries makes the trip between Homer and Kodiak about eight times a month and between Homer and Seldovia twice that often.
The M/V Tustumena also stops in the small village of Port Lions off the road system on its way to and from Kodiak. But the M/V Kennicott is too big for the dock there to stop.
The M/V Tustumena will be docked for a longer-than-normal period next year until April 28 as part of an approved federal and state capital improvement project to revitalize the nearly 45-year old vessel.
Unless AMHS officials can provide an alternative service, Port Lions would be cut off from ferry service for the entire six months.
The plan is not sitting well with area lawmakers, including Sen. Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak.
"It seems to me that cutting service, disrupting schedules and otherwise making the Marine Highway System unavailable for the people who rely on it is the perfect way to kill the system," he said in a press release.
Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux, R-Kodiak, said she, Stevens and Rep. Paul Seaton, R-Homer, have talked with the state about the issue.
"We believe they needed to go back to the drawing board and find a more acceptable solution to delivering service to our area," she said. "Our constituents deserve a system they can rely on for adequate coverage while the Tustumena is being upgraded."
The once-a-month schedule could be bad for local businesses as well, like the trucking company Kar-a-Van, owned by Russ Daigle in Seldovia.
He said he sends a couple trailers to Seldovia each week using the ferry system.
"That would be too bad," Daigle said of the proposed schedule. "That would be a shame to lose that business."
One solution to the problem would be to add about $2.4 million to the budget to offset the increased costs incurred by using the M/V Kennicott, said AMHS General Manager John Falvey.
"We're dealing with some rough numbers," he said.
The increasing price of fuel and upkeep on the old fleet is making runs like the one from Homer to Kodiak and Prince William Sound even more unprofitable, he said.
For instance, the M/V Tustumena costs about $242,000 per week to operate and generates only about $45,000 in revenues, he said.
The bigger M/V Kennicott, however, costs about $410,000 per week to run. To cut costs, the AMHS has put the Kennicott on a two-week-on, two-week-off rotation.
That rotation, plus the increased costs of running the larger vessel, is contributing to the plan to run just once a month, Falvey said.
"We only have so much money to work with," he said. "We're doing what we can do."
There is a public teleconference about the ferry schedule planned for Jan. 11. Contact the Legislative Information Office in Juneau at (907) 465-4648 for more information.
Ben Stuart can be reached at ben.stuart@homernews.com.
