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JUNEAU - The Inter-Island Ferry Authority Board Tuesday agreed to maintain daily all-year round-trip passenger vehicle ferry service between Prince of Wales Island and Ketchikan, and service every Friday, Saturday and Sunday through Sept. 13 between Coffman Cove, Wrangell and Petersburg, according to IFA general manager Bruce Jones.

The board was faced with increased fuel costs and a million dollar budget deficit, resulting from a reduction in grant funds anticipated from the Federal Transit Administration. Faced with difficult funding decisions, the board decided that continuing to maintain reliable service between Ketchikan and Hollis, and the northern communities, was its top priority.

The IFA was organized by the Prince of Wales Island communities of Craig, Klawock, Thorne Bay and Coffman Cove in a coalition with Wrangell and Petersburg to provide improved ferry service to southern Southeast Alaska island communities. Daily year-round service between Ketchikan and Hollis with the ferry Prince of Wales was implemented in January 2002. The ferry Stikine implemented summer seasonal service between Coffman Cove, Wrangell and Petersburg in 2006.