The options are being considered for a temporary solution to the sudden transportation problems caused by Wednesday's sinking of the Queen of the North.
Barge service is being set up for transport of goods to the Queen Charlottes, extra flights are being organized for passengers looking for a way to get to their destination and possibly even a new port of call for the Alaska Marine Highway vessel Matanuska is in the cards.
Alaska's Governor Frank Murkowski has apparently offered BC Ferries the option of allowing the Matanuska to call on Prince Rupert on it's weekly run from Ketchikan, Alaska to Bellingham, Washington.
There has been no word received yet if the plan will move forward, there may be a few logistical things to work out before it happens. But the offer is there should BC find itself running short of options to keep the connection to Vancouver Island a going concern.
Utilizing the Alaska option would make for a reasonable solution for the short term, since passenger loads are traditionally light at this time of year and probably would fit comfortably into the Matanuska's available onboard spots. But when the high tourist season arrives it would probably not be the optimum solution to what is going to prove to be a challenging season. There will still need to be a permanent British Columbia solution to this pressing transportation problem.
None the less, considering the history of the Alaska Ferries and Prince Rupert (in 1997 the Malaspina was held for three days behind a picket line set up by fishermen protesting fishing issues, a situation which resulted in the Alaska Ferry service being suspended to Prince Rupert for 19 weeks and which also gave birth to the name of this blog -see why a Town Called Podunk above!) it's a rather neighbourly (or should we say neighborly) thing for the Alaskans to offer.
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