See also
- BC Ferries, a ferry service similar to the IFA just south of Alaska in British Columbia, Canada
- Ketchikan International Airport Ferry
The Inter-Island Ferry Authority (IFA) is a ferry service in the U.S. state of Alaska with its headquarters in Hollis, Alaska on Prince of Wales Island.
The Inter-Island Ferry Authority was created in 1997 by the Prince of Wales Island communities of Klawock, Craig, Thorne Bay, Coffman Cove in addition to the communities of Petersburg and Wrangell. By 1998, the state Department of Transportation was behind the idea of a shuttle ferry service between Prince of Wales Island and outlying communities and soon the Alaska Congressional delegation secured funding for two day boats to seed the ferry authority. In 2002, the first vessel, the M/V Prince of Wales, inaugurated service between Hollis and Ketchikan, and in 2006, the M/V Stikine followed suit with a northerly route.
One of the primary reasons for the creation of the authority was the spotty service to Prince of Wales Island provided by the Alaska Marine Highway System, which, while regular, was often placed at inconvenient times, specifically the regular occurrence of ferries near midnight, to the annoyance of many island residents. In its last two years of operation to Prince of Wales Island (on the same Hollis-Ketchikan route the IFA operates) it averaged 38,615 passengers and 10,644 vehicles annually. In the IFA, on its first year of operation, carried 54,906 passengers and 14,156 vehicles. [1]
The Inter-Island Ferry Authority owns two vessels:
As of 2013, the IFA offers daily, round-trip service between Hollis, on Prince of Wales Island, and Ketchikan. [2]
The Stikine or Prince of Wales depart Hollis every morning at 8am and arrives in Ketchikan at 11am. The ferry then leaves Ketchikan at 3:30pm and arrives back in Hollis at 6:30pm. Although Hollis is the only Prince of Wales Island community to receive direct service from the ferries, since the most of the island is connected by a network of logging industry-era roads, the ferry service also serves the Prince of Wales Island communities of Craig, Hydaburg, Kasaan, Klawock, Nautaki, Thorne Bay, and Whale Pass. [2]
The Stikine formerly provided round-trip service from Coffman Cove to Wrangell and Petersburg for the summers of 2006, 2007 and 2008, but that route was suspended after the summer of 2008. [2]
A new Authority, the Rainforest Islands Ferry Authority, was created and in 2014 may possibly operate the North End route. The Authority would connect Coffman Cove with Wrangell and Petersburg, and may also provide service to Ketchikan. [3] In 2012, the authority purchased the Ashley Alyse McCall, a former oil-rig supply vessel built in 1992 that is 160 feet (49 m) long and can carry 14 vehicles and 70 passengers. The McCall will be renamed the Rainforest Islander. [4]
Southeast Alaska, colloquially referred to as the Alaska Panhandle or Alaskan Panhandle, is the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska, bordered to the east by the northern half of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The majority of Southeast Alaska's area is part of the Tongass National Forest, the United States' largest national forest. In many places, the international border runs along the crest of the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains. The region is noted for its scenery and mild, rainy climate.
Prince of Wales–Hyder Census Area is a census area located in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2010 census, the population was 5,559. It is part of the unorganized borough and therefore has no borough seat. Its largest communities are Craig and Metlakatla. It was formerly part of the Census Bureau's Prince of Wales–Outer Ketchikan Census Area, but the name was changed in 2008 after most of the Outer Ketchikan was lost to annexation by the Ketchikan Gateway Borough.
Ketchikan is a city in and the borough seat of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough of Alaska. It is the state's southeasternmost major settlement. Downtown Ketchikan is a National Historic District. With a population at the 2010 census of 8,050, it is the fifth-most populous city in the state, and tenth-most populous community when census-designated places are included. The surrounding borough, encompassing suburbs both north and south of the city along the Tongass Highway, plus small rural settlements accessible mostly by water, registered a population of 13,477 in that same census. Estimates put the 2017 population at 13,754 people. Incorporated on August 25, 1900, Ketchikan is the earliest extant incorporated city in Alaska, because consolidation or unification elsewhere in Alaska resulted in dissolution of those communities' city governments. Ketchikan is located on Revillagigedo Island, so named in 1793 by Captain George Vancouver.
Coffman Cove is a city in Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area, Alaska, in the United States. It is located on Prince of Wales Island. The population was 176 at the 2010 census, down from 199 in 2000.
Craig is a city in the Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area in the Unorganized Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. The population was 1,201 at the 2010 census, down from 1,397 in 2000.
Hollis is a census-designated place (CDP) in Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 112, down from 139 in 2000.
Klawock is a city in Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area, in the U.S. state of Alaska, on the west coast of Prince of Wales Island, on Klawock Inlet, across from Klawock Island. The population was 755 at the 2010 census, down from 854 in 2000.
The City and Borough of Wrangell is a borough in Alaska, United States. As of the 2010 census the population was 2,369, up from 2,308 in 2000. Incorporated as a Unified Home Rule Borough on May 30, 2008, Wrangell was previously a city in the Wrangell-Petersburg Census Area. Its Tlingit name is Ḵaachx̱aana.áakʼw. The Tlingit people living in the Wrangell area, who were there centuries before Europeans, call themselves the Shtaxʼhéen Ḵwáan after the nearby Stikine River. Alternately they use the autonym Shxʼát Ḵwáan, where the meaning of shxʼát is unknown.
Prince of Wales Island is one of the islands of the Alexander Archipelago in the Alaska Panhandle. It is the fourth-largest island in the United States and the 97th-largest island in the world.
The Alaska Marine Highway (AMH) or the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) is a ferry service operated by the U.S. state of Alaska. It has its headquarters in Ketchikan, Alaska.
M/V Taku is a Malaspina-class mainline vessel built for the Alaska Marine Highway System. The ship has been retired and was sold to a Dubai-based company for $171,000. The owner sought to sell the ferry internationally, and was unsuccessful, and it was last seen beached in Alang, India, to be scrapped.
M/V Aurora is a feeder vessel for the Alaska Marine Highway System, built in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin in 1977 by Peterson Shipbuilders and commissioned by the Alaska Marine Highway System the same year.
M/V Chenega is a fast ferry catamaran and the newest vessel in the Alaska Marine Highway System.
The M/V Fairweather is a fast ferry catamaran in the Alaska Marine Highway System.
MV Matanuska, colloquially known as the Mat, is a mainline Malaspina-class ferry vessel for the Alaska Marine Highway System.
The M/V Columbia is a mainline ferry vessel for the Alaska Marine Highway System.
M/V Prince of Wales is the first vessel, and currently one of two vessels, in the Inter-Island Ferry Authority (IFA). She is the sister ship to the MV Stikine.
M/V Stikine is the second of two vessels in the Inter-Island Ferry Authority (IFA) fleet. She is the sister ship to the MV Prince of Wales.
Alaska Coastal Airlines was an airline in the United States. It was formed in 1939 as a result of the merger of Alaska Air Transport and Marine Airways. On April 1, 1962 Alaska Coastal Airlines merged with Ellis Air Lines, trading for a while as Alaska Coastal-Ellis Airlines. Alaska Coastal Airlines was taken over by Alaska Airlines in April 1968.
Taquan Air is the operating name for Venture Travel, LLC, an American regional airline headquartered in Ketchikan, a city in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska. It operates domestic scheduled passenger and charter services. Its base is Ketchikan Harbor Seaplane Base, which shares the same harbor and airspace as Ketchikan International Airport. As per the United States Department of Transportation in a report dated August 2, 2010, Taquan Air is a "U.S. Certificated Air Carrier", and is 1 of 125 such carriers in the US.