MV Malaspina

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M/V Malaspina
Career
Commissioned: 1963
Classification: American Bureau of Shipping
Home Port: Juneau, Alaska
Other Ports: Bellingham (WA), Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, Sitka, Haines, Skagway
Decommissioned: Currently active
Fate: Currently active
General characteristics
Displacement: 5,552 long tons
Length: 408 ft (124 m)
Beam: 74 ft (23 m)
Draught: 16 ft 11 and 3/8 inches
Horsepower: 8,000
Speed: 16.5 knots
Capacity: Passengers, 500
Automobiles, 88
Access: Aft, port, and starboard ro-ro loading - One vehicle deck
Named After: Malaspina Glacier near Yakutat, Alaska

The M/V Malaspina, colloquially known as the Mal, is a mainline ferry and the original Malaspina-class vessel for the Alaska Marine Highway System.

Constructed in 1963 by the Lockheed Shipbuilding Yards in Seattle, Washington and elongated in 1972 at the Willamette Iron and Steel Company in Portland, Oregon, the M/V Malaspina has been in the ferry system for over forty years. As a mainline ferry, which means it serves the larger of the inside passage communities (such as Ketchikan, Petersburg, and Sitka), its route expands the entirety of the inside passage, often beginning runs in Prince Rupert, British Columbia or Bellingham, Washington and running to the northernmost Alaskan Panhandle community of Skagway.

[edit] Trivia

  • The Malaspina is nearly identical to its sister ship, the M/V Matanuska.
  • The Malaspina's amenities include a hot-food cafeteria; cocktail lounge and bar; solarium; forward, aft, movie, and business lounges; gift shop; 54 four-berth cabins; and 29 two-berth cabins.

[edit] External links