Designer: Ferry could turn profit by 5th year

PALMER — The Mat-Su Borough is giving its first glimpse of possible fares and operating costs for the high-speed, ice-breaking ferry that could be delivered as early as 2009.

The main run for the ferry will go from Point MacKenzie to the Port of Anchorage. The boat could also make runs to the Kenai Peninsula.

Lew Madden, co-inventor of the ship, said that based on fares and operating costs, the ferry could start seeing a profit in its fifth year of operation and make the borough money after that. By year five, Madden said a conservative estimate shows the boat would cost $3,188,632 to run and bring in about $3,992,440 in revenue.

He based his figures on a ballpark estimate of $25 per car making the one-way trip and $10 per person. The ship can hold 14 to 20 cars and seats for 114 people, Madden said. He estimates 1,500 passenger trips per month in the summer and 2,200 in the winter. The largest expense, fuel, should run about $850,000 a year, Madden said, and a four-man crew would cost $328,000 annually.

The revenue and the operating costs, he said, are rough estimates and could be adjusted up or down.

“The rough order of magnitude will stay the same,” he said. An estimated round-trip fare to Anchorage from Point MacKenzie of about $36 is based on fuel costs.

Borough Manager John Duffy said that the ridership figures Madden used do not factor in likely sources of passengers for the ferry, which is being built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. One source would be the 1,536-bed prison the Borough plans to build at Point MacKenzie or a manufacturing plant that plans to relocate there if a ferry is running.

Borough spokeswoman Patty Sullivan said the ship would take 15 minutes to make the crossing in the summer and 30 minutes in the winter. Loading and unloading time will add an extra five to 10 minutes on either side.

The U.S. Navy is financing the boat’s construction for use as a prototype “E-Craft” for use bringing personnel and material from sea-bases through the “last mile” — that turbulent space where sea meets land, according to the Borough. The Borough’s prototype boat will be half the size of the version the Navy hopes to add to its fleet.

The Borough has agreed to own and operate the boat and the Navy will be allowed to house scientific equipment on board to monitor its performance. Generally, such prototypes are junked after they’re tested.

Madden said in a commercial factory the boat would probably cost upward of $40 million to build. Most of that cost has been paid by the Navy. The Borough is essentially buying the boat for $5 million, which Sullivan said came from Federal Transit Authority funds.

Construction of the ferry is already underway at a Ketchikan shipyard. It is scheduled for delivery in Spring 2009, but any delays could push that date to 2010.