MV Taku

MV Taku
History
Name	Taku
Namesake	Taku Glacier, Juneau, Alaska
Owner	Alaska Marine Highway System
Port of registry	United States
Builder	Puget Sound Bridge & Dry Dock Company, Seattle, Washington
Cost	$4.5 Million USD
Launched	2 July 1962
Commissioned	1963
Identification	IMO number: 5351052 MMSI number: 338697000 Callsign: WI9491
Fate	Scrapped 21 April 2018
General characteristics
Class and type	Malaspina-class mainline ferry
Tonnage	2,625 Domestic 7,302 International
Displacement	4,283 long tons (4,352 t)
Length	352 ft (107 m)
Beam	74 ft (23 m)
Draft	16 ft 11 in (5.16 m)
Decks	One vehicle deck, three passenger decks
Ramps	Aft, port, and starboard ro-ro loading
Installed power	Two 4,000 hp MaK Diesel engines
Speed	16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph)
Capacity	370 passengers 69 vehicles
Crew	42

M/V Taku is a Malaspina-class mainline vessel built for the Alaska Marine Highway System. The ship has been retired and was sold to a Dubai-based company for $171,000. The owner sought to sell the ferry internationally, and was unsuccessful, and it was last seen beached in Alang, India, to be scrapped.

History

Designed by Philip F. Spaulding & Associates, constructed in 1963 by the Puget Sound Bridge & Dry Dock Company in Seattle, Washington, the M/V Taku is named after Taku Glacier which is located just southeast of Juneau, Alaska, and has been in the ferry system for over forty years. In 1981, the Taku received a major refurbishment and was in service steadily until the summer of 2015 when she was laid up due to budget considerations. The AMHS subsequently announced that it would retire the vessel in preparation for sale or scrapping.

Role

As a mainline ferry, Taku served the larger of the inside passage communities (such as Ketchikan, Petersburg, and Sitka), its route primarily stayed between Ketchikan and Skagway in Southeast Alaska.

The M/V Taku was the largest of the three AMHS vessels able to serve the communities of Hoonah and Kake and because of this served as a critical component of providing transportation out of Hoonah and Kake after the "milk run" ferry, the MV LeConte hit a rock and went into dry dock.

Amenities

The Taku's amenities included a hot-food cafeteria; bar; solarium; forward, aft, recliner, movie, and business lounges; gift shop; 8 four-berth cabins; and 36 two-berth cabins.

Accidents and Incidents

• On April 23rd, 1963 the Taku struck a rock outside Petersburg in a minus tide. She returned to service on May 3rd.
• On August 8th, 1963 two boys entered the wheelhouse when the Taku was preparing to leave Petersburg, and engaged the engines. The resulting damage to the dock left the vehicle loading ramp out of commission for three months.
• On July 29th, 1970, the Taku ran aground on Kinihan Island, outside of Prince Rupert, Canada. All passengers on board were evacuated safely, and the cars were transferred to the BC Ferry MV Queen of Prince Rupert

References

• Cohen, Stan. (1997). Highway on the Sea: A Pictorial History of the Alaska Marine Highway System. Missoula, MT: Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-929521-87-9.
• "Vessel Profiles". Alaska Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on March 30, 2013. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
• Welcome Aboard! M/V Taku. Alaska Marine Highway pamphlet.

• "'Bittersweet for Alaska': Beloved ferry Taku just sold to a Dubai company". Juneau Empire. 2018-01-23. Retrieved May 25, 2018.

External links

• Official Alaska Marine Highway System website
• M/S Taku.