Stop M/V Susitna ferry sale

To the editor:

KTUU Channel 2 News reported on Jan. 6 that the Mat-Su Borough intends to sell our $80 million icebreaking ferryboat to a secret foreign buyer for an undisclosed pittance (I presume). We must stop this sale! Our state-of-the-art ice-class ferryboat should be turned over to the state of Alaska, because we desperately need an icebreaking transport ferry and work ship to help develop and maintain year-round Arctic ports and shipyards in the years to come.

Alaska also needs to develop an offshore, liquefied natural gas terminal at Cross Island (just north of Prudhoe Bay) to load the magnificent new icebreaker LNG tanker ships being built by Daewoo Shipbuilding company in South Korea. These ships will plow the new polar shipping lanes to Asia and Europe and could bring huge revenues to Alaska. Japanese Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd. with Chinese partner, China Shipping, already ordered three icebreaker LNG tankers from Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co Ltd., and said they will start transporting LNG through the Arctic Ocean to both Europe and Asia in 2018 (reported by Yuka Obayashi, Reuters Africa, July 9, 2014). This is especially important now because only natural gas shipped directly from tidewater will prove cost-competitive in a global market, and because Alaska is currently drowning in budget deficits.

Therefore, it is against the vital interests of the state of Alaska to sell our M/V Susitna ferryboat to some foreign buyer, and it is irresponsible for our Mat-Su Borough to sell it for a secret pittance of its true value to Alaska. Please contac our Borough Mayor, Manager and Governor Walker and implore them to stop this sale, because it would remove this important piece of infrastructure from the arsenal that we need to develop, maintain, and protect our Arctic ports and resources.

Daniel N. Russell

Willow