Cordova would get one ferry sailing a month this winter, and none in January

Cordova would get one ferry round trip a month to Whittier this winter under an arrangement the Alaska Marine Highway System is trying to build around the Tustumena. That is better than the earlier draft, which left Prince William Sound with no service at all while the Aurora is in the yard.

January would still have nothing. "January, February would be the blank months," Mayor Kristin Smith said. February depends on how many days the shipyard can shave off the Tustumena's own overhaul, currently scheduled Jan. 15 through April 30.

Riders told the council what a useful sailing looks like: out Wednesday, back Sunday. That gives two business days in Anchorage for medical appointments, freight and getting a vehicle serviced. Smith made the same case, and said the school district needs a weekend window for travel.

Once a month may not be enough either way. A monthly sailing is "just about guaranteed to be stuffed full," said Bill Lindo, a fisherman.

The bottleneck is vessels and crew. The Aurora is booked into the yard Oct. 1, its overhaul extended after crews found extensive wasted steel, as Alaska News reported. When the Tustumena goes in during January, system Director Craig Tarraga said, no other vessel can be crewed to fill in. Kodiak loses service too.

How much of the gap closes gets decided in Seward. Tarraga said the yard is confident it can "take a month off the schedule," and that the state would work through the details with the yard in early September. He also offered to ask about pushing the Aurora's Oct. 1 start back if Cordova sees value in it. Smith said splitting any savings, two weeks at each end, looked like the safest bet.