PALMER -- Matanuska-Susitna Borough officials will spend the rest of the week in Washington, D.C., trying to smooth the long-awaited departure of the M/V Susitna.
The 195-foot Susitna was supposed to carry passengers and cars across Knik Arm from Point MacKenzie to Anchorage, but money and political will for landings fizzled and the ferry never made it to Southcentral Alaska. The vessel has instead been moored since 2011 at a dock in Ward Cove near the Ketchikan shipyard where it was built and costing the borough more than $2 million.
The borough assembly in early September authorized the $1.75 million sale of the ill-fated craft to the Philippine Red Cross, provided several conditions could be met.
Among them: establishing that the federal government would allow the U.S. Navy prototype to be sold or exported to a foreign entity. The borough got good news from the State Department, borough attorney Nick Spiropoulos told the assembly during a Tuesday night meeting in Palmer. Federal officials say the Susitna is subject to the lowest export control classifications.
Another condition of the sale is that the borough -- using $250,000 from the Red Cross to cover the borough's insurance deductible -- carry out engine repairs necessary to fix damage from a rainstorm. Borough officials say they're optimistic their insurance holder will complete all the necessary repairs.
"A lot of credit goes to Nick for pulling this off," borough manager John Moosey said Tuesday night, of the federal determination. "Nothing about this boat has been easy."
Now the borough officials will travel to D.C. to meet with the Federal Transit Administration, the agency demanding the return of more than $12 million in grant funds spent on the Susitna.