State ferry offers service from Bellingham to Whittier
By Ken Smith
Turnagain Times
Beginning in June, the Alaska Marine Highway System ferry M/V Kennicott will begin service from Bellingham, Wash. to Whittier. It is the first time passengers are able to utilize a direct interstate route between the two ports.
The service will be offered bi-weekly with the first departure from Bellingham scheduled for June 4.
The four-and-half-day trip stops in Ketchikan, Juneau and Yakutat. The last trip will depart on Sept. 24.
The car deck is already booked full through the middle of August, said State Ferry Marketing Manager Danielle Adkins.
“There was a need for this service,” she said. “ Additional state funding will allow the Kennicott to operate full-time again this summer.”
Due to funding restrictions, Adkins said the Kennicott was operating in a two-by-two schedule, so it would operate for two weeks and then be in a lay-up, non-operational status, for two weeks.
The car deck is nearly full until late into the summer season, she said, but passenger space is available as are limited cabins and roomettes (sitting rooms with no bathrooms).
Cabins start at $130 up to $700 plus for a four-berth cabin with full amenities. Car deck space costs $1,481 for one vehicle (19 feet), which does not include a cabin or a roomette. Walk-on passengers pay $547.
“We’ve always had cross-Gulf service in the summer, but never from Bellingham, and not without a vessel change or layover,” said Adkins. “This is what we’re calling the express cross-Gulf route because passengers never had the opportunity to go direct to Southcentral.”
The ferry can carry 499 passengers and 80 cars.
Departures from Bellingham will be on Saturday evenings, every other week. The ferry will arrive in Whittier on a Thursday morning. A return trip from Whittier to Bellingham will depart every other Monday at 11:45 a.m.
The summer season also marks the start of extended service of the Chenega, a fast ferry that provides year-round transportation between Cordova, Valdez and Whittier. Beginning May 2, the Chenega will operate seven days a week until Sept. 30.
The catamaran designed ferry was introduced five years ago. The route between Cordova and Whittier costs $89 per person and takes a little over three hours; the Cordova-Valdez service is also $89 and takes about three hours.
