M/V Columbia

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Career

Commissioned:	1974
Classification:	Unknown
Home Port:	Unknown
Decommissioned:	Currently active
Fate:	Currently active
General Characteristics
Displacement:	Unknown
Length:	418 ft (127 m)
Beam:	85 ft (26 m)
Draught:	17 ft 6 and 3/4 inches
Horsepower:	12,350
Speed:	17.3 knots
Capacity:	Passengers, 971 Automobiles, 134
Access:	Aft, port, and starboard ro-ro loading One vehicle deck
Named After:	Columbia Glacier in the Chugach Mountains

The M/V Columbia is a mainline ferry vessel for the Alaska Marine Highway System.

Constructed in 1974 by Lockheed Shipbuilding in Seattle, Washington, the M/V Columbia has been the flagship vessel for the Alaska ferry system for over thirty years. As a mainline ferry, which means in serves the largest of the inside passage communities (such as Ketchikan, Petersburg, and Sitka), its route expands the entirety of the inside passage, often beginning runs in Bellingham, Washington and running to the northernmost Alaskan Panhandle community of Skagway stopping in communities along the way.

On July 2nd, 2006, an engine room fire broke out on the Columbia temporarily impairing steering on its northbound voyage from Bellingham up to Prince Rupert in Canadian waters. The ship was temporarily taken in to Duncan Bay, British Columbia for temporary repairs before continuing on to Ketchikan's Alaska Ship & Dry Dock for more extensive repairs[1].

[edit] Trivia

The Columbia's amenities include a hot-food cafeteria; sit-down restaurant and dining room; cocktail lounge and bar; solarium; forward, aft, movie, and business lounges; gift shop; 45 four-berth cabins; and 59 two-berth cabins.