Alaska Marine Highway System hit by national maritime staffing shortage

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – There are nine ships in the Alaska Marine Highway System fleet, with some of them being mainline ferries and the others being utilized as day boat shuttles.

Currently, only seven are active, with one not sailing due to mechanical issues and another being dockside due to a crew shortage.

Public information officer Sam Dapcevich says what the AMHS is facing is part of a nationwide issue faced by maritime operators — not enough crew.

“Right now, we’re short in almost every category for our vessel crews,” Dapcevich said. “We’re down in the wheelhouse — which includes captains and mates — or down with our engineer, and engineering staff and, you know, our other licensed crew as well.”

Dapcevich says that the ferry system has faced several moments this summer where they almost had to tie a vessel up because they couldn’t staff it.

“Frequently, we’ve been handling this by holding people over … the longer that we do that, the more burnout takes place. And we’re trying to turn that around,” Dapcevich said.

This year, AMHS has worked on several things to help draw people to the maritime field, like adding recruitment bonuses and approving overtime for crew members. They have also been working on supporting the return of retirees.

“We’re working on bringing back some retired crew to fill positions or to take up some of the slack,” Dapcevich said.

Little did Dapcevich know that there was a nonprofit out there that was working on helping with bridging the gap that the maritime field faces.

“Alaska Works Partnership is the pre-apprenticeship program, so we’re kind of like a great way to shop around before you join an apprenticeship, like a construction apprenticeship,” Coordinator Joanna Jarden said. “So, we have different trainings that we offer, they’re all free and will never cost you anything, and they’re a great way to just like get your hands on stuff and see if that trade might be a good fit for you.”

The Alaska Works Partnership will behold an online maritime career orientation on Aug. 29. The goal is to introduce the career to Alaskans.

“Somebody from the Transportation Institute, she’s going to be talking about the different opportunities in maritime, there are tons of different apprenticeships that you could eventually get into after you join the maritime industry. And there’s more than just like working on the boats or working in the seafood plants and processing plants,” Jarden said.

Alaska Works Partnership started as a construction trade organization, helping to get people involved in the field. Still, due to the shortage, they have recently decided to help get people interested in the maritime domain.

”Our partnership with the maritime apprenticeship is new,” Jarden said. “So we haven’t always worked with them, so we’re still trying to find the best way to help them out.”

This event they are hosting will highlight the different sectors that people can work in, how much they could get paid, and what training or credentials are necessary to work in maritime. Everyone is welcome to attend this orientation. Interested residents can visit the Alaska Works partnership website and RSVP for the event.

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