(SitNews) Ketchikan, Alaska - The Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities signed papers Friday transferring ownership of the M/V Taku to the United Arab Emirates' company Jabal Al Lawz Trading Est, located in Dubai. The final sale price was $171,000 and the vessel is expected to leave Alaska within a month. 

“The sale is bittersweet for Alaska. The Taku is a beloved ship and it’s hard to see her go. At the same time, we’re glad to have the sale process completed and have earned a good value for the state,” said Captain John Falvey, Alaska Marine Highway System General Manager.

The Taku was determined to be in excess of state needs for ferry vessels and outside the realm of what the state can afford to maintain and operate in passenger service with available funding. The vessel was constructed in 1963 and faithfully operated as a part of the Alaska Marine Highway System for over 50 years. The Taku was taken out of service on June 23, 2015.

The Taku is currently at a mooring facility in Ward Cove in Ketchikan, Alaska. Ownership has been transferred, and per agreement the new owner will be responsible for the docking fees beginning February 19, 2018.

According to requirements of the Federal Highway Administration which has funded some of the Taku's repairs and upgrades over the years, a percentage of the net receipts from the sale must be used for federally eligible purposes or projects in Alaska. 

The purchasing company, Jabal Al Lawz Trading Est, buys ships to refurbish for use in other countries or to sell for scrap. Back in December of 2017, the state has approved the high bid of KeyMar LLC for $300,000 to purchase the surplus ferry and turn it into a floating hotel in Portland, Oregon. That deal fell through when the bidder backed out. The state then offered the ferry to the second and third highest bidders - one was the Dubai-based company.

"The Taku carried tens of thousands of travelers over the decade and entire generations grew up with the ferry. If people have stories or photos of working or traveling on the Taku, we'd love to hear and see them. We invite people to send memories of the Taku to AMHS via email to dot.ask@alaska.gov," added Falvey.

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities oversees 242 airports, 10 ferries serving 35 communities, more than 5,600 miles of highway and 731 public facilities throughout the state of Alaska.

Editing by Mary Kauffman, SitNews

Source of News:

Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT&PF)
www.dot.state.ak.us

 

Representations of fact and opinions in comments posted are solely those of the individual posters and do not represent the opinions of Sitnews.

SitNews ©2018
Stories In The News
Ketchikan, Alaska

Articles & photographs that appear in SitNews may be protected by copyright and may not be reprinted without written permission from and payment of any required fees to the proper sources. E-mail your news & photos to editor@sitnews.us Photographers choosing to submit photographs for publication to SitNews are in doing so granting their permission for publication and for archiving. SitNews does not sell photographs. All requests for purchasing a photograph will be emailed to the photographer.