The M/V ''Columbia'' is a mainline

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 taxi ...

vessel for 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 ...

Constructed in 1974 by Lockheed Shipbuilding in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, the M/V ''Columbia'' has been the flagship vessel for the Alaska ferry system for over 40 years. As a mainline ferry, which means she serves the largest of the inside passage communities (such as

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 ...

, Wrangell, Petersburg,

Juneau The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the s ...

, Haines, Skagway, and

Sitka russian: Ситка , native_name_lang = tli , settlement_type = Consolidated city-borough , image_skyline = File:Sitka 84 Elev 135.jpg , image_caption = Downtown Sitka in 1984 , image_size ...

), her route spans the entirety of the inside passage, often beginning runs in

Bellingham, Washington Bellingham ( ) is the most populous city in, and county seat of Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It lies south of the U.S.–Canada border in between two major cities of the Pacific Northwest: Vancouver, British Columbia (locat ...

and running to the northernmost

Alaskan Panhandle Southeast Alaska, colloquially referred to as the Alaska(n) Panhandle, is the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska, bordered to the east and north by the northern half of the Canadian province of British Columbia (and a small part ...

community of

Skagway The Municipality and Borough of Skagway is a first-class borough in Alaska on the Alaska Panhandle. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,240, up from 968 in 2010. The population doubles in the summer tourist season in order to deal with ...

stopping in communities along the way, during the summer season (winter services are sometimes operated by the

MV Malaspina MV ''Malaspina'', colloquially known as the ''Mal'', is a mainline ROPAX ferry and the original ''Malaspina''-class vessel for the Alaska Marine Highway System. ''Malaspina'' is named after the Malaspina Glacier, which, in turn, is named after Cap ...

). ''Columbia'' has an upper deck between the main vehicle deck and the cabin deck with additional vehicle stowage accessed by two vehicle elevators capable of hoisting 19 foot vehicles with their passengers, and additional passenger cabins. On July 2, 2006, an auxiliary engine room fire broke out on the ''Columbia'' temporarily impairing steering and propulsion on her northbound voyage from Bellingham in Seymour Narrows in Canadian waters. She motored to

Duncan Bay Duncan may refer to: People * Duncan (given name), various people * Duncan (surname), various people * Clan Duncan * Justice Duncan (disambiguation) Places * Duncan Creek (disambiguation) * Duncan River (disambiguation) * Duncan Lake (d ...

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 damage assessment before continuing on to Ketchikan's Alaska Ship & Dry Dock for more extensive repairs. Early on 15 August 2007, only two months before a scheduled overhaul, position number two connecting rod in the ''Columbia''s starboard engine experienced a bearing failure. To prevent catastrophic damage to the surrounding components the engine was secured. The 268 passengers were rerouted, and she was sent to

, where she was originally planned to be repaired within the week. Soon it became apparent that she would require further work, and in a controversial decision the Marine Highway System chose to cancel all further summer voyages on the ship pending repairs. Nearly all the other ships in the fleet were rerouted to make up for the loss of what many consider to be the flagship of the fleet, and many passengers were urged to seek alternative travel means to help ease the pressure on the system. Transferred to Cascade General Shipyard at Swan Island in the

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

area; both main engines were disassembled and overhauled. As of May 19, 2008 the MV Columbia left Cascade General and sailed to Bellingham, WA to begin active service. The vessel was moored in Ketchikan, AK for a winter layup period/heavy maintenance period from September 2009 to June 2010. During this period of time the propeller shafting and associated wheels were overhauled. The repair of damage sustained to the port main engine viscous damper drive coupling during the middle of the 2009 operating season was remediated as well.

External links

Official Alaska Marine Highway System websiteAmerican Bureau of Shipping records

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Columbia, MV Alaska Marine Highway System vessels 1974 ships Ships built by Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company