The Inter-Island Ferry Authority (IFA) is a
ferry
A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water ta ...
service in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
of
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U ...
with its headquarters in
Hollis, Alaska on
Prince of Wales Island.
History
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
Ketchikan ( ; tli, Kichx̱áan) 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 20 ...
, and in 2006, the
M/V ''Stikine'' followed suit with a northerly route.
Traffic
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
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.
The Alaska Marine Highway System operates along the south-central ...
, 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.
['']Juneau Empire
The ''Juneau Empire'' is a newspaper in Juneau, Alaska, United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in ...
''
"Inter-Island Ferry Authority shows way"
by Lew Williams, Jr. Retrieved August 5, 2007.
Routes and vessels
The Inter-Island Ferry Authority owns two vessels:
*
M/V ''Prince of Wales''
*
M/V ''Stikine''
As of 2013, the IFA offers daily, round-trip service between Hollis, on Prince of Wales Island, and Ketchikan.
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
Hydaburg ( )
(''Higdáa G̱ándlaay'' in Haida) is a first-class city
in the Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area, in the U.S. state of Alaska. The population was 382 at the 2000 census and 376 as of the 2010 census. The name "Hydaburg" re ...
,
Kasaan
Kasaan ( hai, Gasa'áan; tli, Kasa'aan) is a city in the Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area in the U.S. state of Alaska. The population was 49 at the 2010 census, up from 39 in 2000. The name "Kasaan" comes from Tlingit , meaning "pretty town ...
,
Klawock,
Nautaki,
Thorne Bay, and
Whale Pass.
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.
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.
In 2012, the authority purchased the ''Ashley Alyse McCall'', a former oil-rig supply vessel built in 1992 that is long and can carry 14 vehicles and 70 passengers. The ''McCall'' will be renamed the ''Rainforest Islander''.
See also
*
BC Ferries
British Columbia Ferry Services Inc., operating as BC Ferries (BCF), is a former provincial Crown corporation, now operating as an independently managed, publicly owned Canadian company. BC Ferries provides all major passenger and vehicle ferr ...
, a ferry service similar to the IFA just south of Alaska in
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
*
Ketchikan International Airport Ferry
References
External links
* {{Official website, http://www.interislandferry.com
Route map
1997 establishments in Alaska
Transport companies established in 1997
Ferry companies of Alaska
Petersburg Borough, Alaska
Prince of Wales–Hyder Census Area, Alaska
Transportation in Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska
Transportation in Unorganized Borough, Alaska
Wrangell, Alaska