Tustumena replacement ferry gets $32.3 million more in federal funding

The Federal Transit Administration on Sept. 24 recorded about $32.3 million in additional funding for the vessel planned to replace the M/V Tustumena, the ferry that has served Southcentral, Kodiak Island and Southwest Alaska since 1964 and is "approaching the end of its service life," the award says.

It follows a much larger 2024 FTA award of about $267.7 million for the same replacement, from the agency's ferry program for rural communities. The new money is a formula grant, distributed under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act rather than through competition. It was one of three FTA awards to the Alaska Marine Highway System recorded that week, totaling about $206 million. The others are $161.5 million to help run the system and nearly $12 million for upgrades to the Tazlina and Columbia.

The award describes a larger ship with modern safety features and "diesel and electric propulsion systems." The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities named Louisiana-based Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors the apparent low bidder at about $350 million, in what it called the system's first major vessel purchase in more than a decade. That bid came in $49 million over budget. The award record doesn't say whether the new federal money is meant to close that gap.

"It's a similar size vessel, but the way it's going to be designed, it's going to hold more vehicles," state Transportation Commissioner Ryan Anderson told the Senate Transportation Committee on Sept. 24.

In the meantime, the Tustumena is scheduled to be out for overhaul from Jan. 15 through April 30, 2027. Craig Tornga, the ferry system's marine director, told the Cordova City Council in August that Kodiak is expected to be without ferry service during that period, as it was during a similar four-month outage in 2025. The only possible stand-in, the Kennicott, hasn't been staffed at the same time as the Columbia, he said: "There is pain for each one of the communities, unfortunately, right now."

At the same meeting, Cordova resident Milo Burcham said of ferry service, "It's not a luxury for us."