Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Smooth sailing until at least 2013


The great Alaska Ferry scare is over. The Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) says that they are committed to Prince Rupert at least until 2013. The prospect of losing the ferry first came up last week with a couple of media reports and some ruminations from the Mayor over the status of the Ferry Service’s plans.

The charge to relocate the terminal to Hyder seems to be led by a local resident, Gary Benedict, president of the Hyder Board of Trade and a hotel operator who has some unusual interpretations of international law and customs procedures. Benedict seems to be concerned over the treatment of drunk drivers and seems to paint a picture of the ferry being held up for hours at a time while Canada Customs officials haul off potential troublemakers, something that hasn’t really been noted locally nor which there have been any complaints noted. He also goes back to the 1996 ferry blockade and our “shameful history”.

That of course, was a rather unfortunate incident and one which certainly had this community split over why it took place and how effective it really was. But to paint it as a “history” seems a tad dis-ingenious to say the least. All of it we suspect is designed to make Hyder look like a transportation Nirvana, despite the fact that disembarking passengers would still have to go through a customs officer, would still get in trouble if they were driving drunk and then would have to add some driving time down a rather rough road to get their journey underway. Sometimes it seems that the worst information is dis-information.

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While we might think of Benedict’s approach as rather easy to see, there is considerable pressure within the state of Alaska to relocate the southern terminus on Alaska soil. However, for the moment the arrangement with Prince Rupert seems to be the most logical solution to the systems needs.

The Daily News had full details as the front page story on Tuesday, on what has now become a bit of a non story locally.

‘ALASKA FERRY’S FUTURE IS IN RUPERT UNTIL AT LEAST 2013
Official says there’s no plan to relocated the ferry terminal to Hyder, Alaska
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Page one

While there continues to be political pressure to move the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) Ferry Terminal out of Prince Rupert, an Alaskan official with the state’s Department of Transportation says they are committed to remaining in the community until at least 2013.

Mike Chambers, spokesperson for the Alaskan Department of Transportation, said the state’s lease with the city of Prince Rupert doesn’t expire until Aug, 31, 2013.

“We are definitely there for at least a few more years,” said Chambers.

The city leases the land and dock for the terminal from the Prince Rupert Port Authority and it in-turn leases the land to the AMHS.

Under an arrangement worked out after the 1996 blockage of the Alaskan ferry by fishermen, the city had an abatement agreement to cover a portion of the lease costs. This recently expired, however the lease itself extends until 2013.

Gary Benedict, president of the Hyder Board of Trade and a hotel operator there, has been lobbying new Alaskan Governor Sarah Paulin, the Alaska Legislature and the top management of the Alaska Department of Transportation to move the terminal to Alaskan waters.

Having the ferry in Prince Rupert leads to problems with customs issues, including the detention of U. S. Citizens with misdemeanors for drunk-driving any time the boat stops in Prince Rupert, he said.

“One of the big drawbacks is the customs coming on their ships and taking people off it,” said Benedict. “It ties the boat up for a while.”

He added there is a shameful history of fishermen holding the Alaska Ferry hostage in 1996. At that time, the AMHS used Hyder as a back-up terminal.

Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond acknowledged there are problems that arise from new international security requirements. However, he said these issue are not ones that can be solved by Prince Rupert alone.

”No one is going to waive rules of international scope,” said Pond. “These are issues of Homeland Security.”

Security Issues affect the whole Pacific coast, he said, and to that end, the city is involved with the Pacific North West Economic Region (PNWER), a provincial/state-based organization that deals with Pacific Northwest transboundary policy issues.

The 17th annual PNWER Summit is taking place in Anchorage and Pond will be in attendance.

“It’s a national forum for discussing these kinds of issues,” said Pond.

“If we can get a larger group working on it, perhaps we can bring a more reasonable security implementation for everyone.”

In addition, the city has been working to connect the AMHS WITH THE B. C. Ferry system.

In the meantime, Chambers said there is no concern that the AMHS will make any sudden decisions about moving the terminal.

“We don’t have anything that resembles a formal request to use Hyder as our second terminus to the Lower 48,” said Chambers.

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