Additional work to delay Tustumena return

KETCHIKAN — The state ferry Tustumena’s return to service for the Alaska Marine Highway System has been delayed one week because of additional repairs at the Ketchikan Shipyard.

The ferry is scheduled to return to service on May 27. Sailings from May 15-26 have been canceled, according to DOT, including its first Aleutian Islands routes in the system’s 2016 summer schedule.

The Tustumena, the fourth vessel added to the system’s fleet, is in Ketchikan for its annual overhaul, according to a Monday announcement from the Alaska Department of Transportation.

As the ferry system fleet ages, it’s routine for additional work to be “discovered,” as DOT and shipyard officials have put it, once crews begin inspecting and working on a vessel.

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