M/V Tustumena
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Commissioned: | 1964 |
| Classification: | American Bureau of Shipping |
| Home Port: | Kodiak, Alaska |
| Decommissioned: | Currently active |
| Fate: | Currently active |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 3,067 long tons |
| Length: | 296 ft (90 m) |
| Beam: | 59 ft (18 m) |
| Draught: | 14 ft 4 and 1/2 inches |
| Horsepower: | 4,000 |
| Speed: | 13.3 knots |
| Capacity: | Passengers, 220 Automobiles, 36 |
| Access: | Aft port and aft starboard ro-ro loading - One vehicle deck |
| Named After: | Tustumena Glacier in the Kenai Peninsula |
The M/V Tustumena, colloquially known as the Tusty, is a mainline ferry vessel for the Alaska Marine Highway System.
The M/V Tustumena was constructed in 1963 in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin and refurbished in 1969 in San Francisco. As the only mainline ferry in Southcentral Alaska and the Aleutian Chain, it principally runs between Kodiak, Seldovia, Port Lions, and Homer with the Homer providing a road link to the other communities on the Kenai Peninsula (Seldovia) and the Kodiak Island area (Kodiak and Port Lions). The only interruptions from this schedule occur when making a voyage out the Aleutian Chain (the Aleutian Chain run consist of the communities of Akutan, Chignik, Cold Bay, False Pass, King Cove, Sand Point, and Unalaska/Dutch Harbor) which the vessel undergoes eight times a year all of which occur during the summer as winter weather becomes too dangerous. Occasionally the Tustumena also ventures into Prince William Sound and the port of Valdez to provide a connection with the Prince William Sound ports which alternates between being served by the M/V Aurora and M/V Chenega in winter and summer respectively.
[edit] Trivia
- The Tustumena's amenities include a hot-food cafeteria; cocktail lounge and bar; solarium; forward, aft, movie, and business lounges; gift shop; four four-berth cabins; 23 three-berth cabins; and 80 two-berth cabins.
- The Tustumena is the smallest AMHS vessel to have cabins.
- The Tustumena is replaced by the M/V Kennicott when it undergoes annual maintenance.
- Because of the exposed and volatile parts of Alaska it plies, the Tustumena is an accredited ocean-going vessel, a quality it shares exclusively with the Kennicott.
- The large black structure on the aft portion of the vessel is a car elevator. It is used in all communities where there is not a dedicated ramp loading directly into the car deck. While the car elevator for the Tustumena is exposed on the exterior, the Kennicott car elevator is located inside the vessel.
