Alaska Class Ferry Project

The mission of the Alaska Class Ferry Project is to design and construct the next generation of ferries to begin the replacement of the aging Alaska Marine Highway System fleet. These ferries will be environmentally-responsible, fuel-efficient and versatile. They will enhance AMHS operations on current and future routes within inside-waters and enable the Alaska Marine Highway System to continue its tradition of providing safe, reliable service.

We encourage you to read the results of our project survey in addition to the rest of the project information within this site.

The Alaska Class Ferry will be the next generation of ferries for the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS). The design will incorporate state-of-the-art safety features and data gleaned from past projects. As replacements for certain existing vessels, these new vessels will be added to the fleet to operate on routes within Alaska's inside-waters on short routes that will not require overnight accommodations. These new vessels will be an important step in the continuing goal of AMHS to maintain a safe, reliable and modern fleet of ferries.

At present, the AMHS fleet includes four ferries built before 1964. As these vessels age beyond 45 years of service, they become very costly to maintain. The age of the vessels is also a threat to the ability of AMHS to offer reliable sailing schedules. As an extreme example, on November 20, 2007, the four oldest Washington State Ferries were dramatically removed from service because of concerns with hull integrity. These Steel Electric Class ferries were ultimately retired from the Washington State Ferries fleet because the cost to repair a single vessel was nearly one third the cost of a new vessel.

Although the retired WSF vessels were nearly 80 years old, AMHS has recognized that it may face a similar situation. In late 2006, AMHS embarked on a project to study the requirements for designing a vessel operating in Lynn Canal. Working with other departments within DOT&PF, it has broadened the mission of the vessel to operate in all routes within inside-waters in order to support the needs of the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, the Southeast Alaska Transportation Plan, and the Juneau Access road project .

AMHS has teamed with Elliott Bay Design Group, LLC (EBDG) to develop the Alaska Class Ferry design. As operators, AMHS brings its experience to the team to identify the challenging criteria the vessels must satisfy to operate in Alaskan waters. Further, AMHS brings an understanding of its customers to the process to ensure the design captures the AMHS experience. EBDG brings a strong tradition of successful ferry designs to the team. In addition, AMHS has teamed with Grady and Associates to facilitate public participation in this process. Grady and Associates has developed and implemented public involvement plans for many statewide projects.

AMHS has invited the public to participate in a public outreach process and encourages all who are interested to keep in touch with this website throughout the technical process. We have published the results of the survey and encourage past survey takers to review these results as well as go to our frequently asked questions page. The Alaska Marine Highway System provides public marine transportation to Alaskans and visitors alike. It is important that these vessels meet the needs of AMHS customers for many years into the future. The survey results can be found on the public involvement page.