The state ferry system announced Monday that, for the first time since 2019, reservations are open for the roughly 110-mile route connecting Ketchikan and the North American road system.
Vehicles load onto the Malaspina on one of the last runs to Prince Rupert, B.C. in 2019.
. That’s when a dispute over whether U.S. border guards would be allowed to carry sidearms on Canadian soil led authorities to pause sailings. Then the pandemic hit, and Canada closed its border to all but essential travel.reopened to visitors“I’m pleased to announce that through our department’s efforts over the past two years, we can restore the Prince Rupert-Alaska connection,” the state’s transportation commissioner, Ryan Anderson, said in a news release.
“I’ve heard loud and clear from constituents throughout the area about the importance of that. So I’m gratified that in fact, we’re going to see it happen, a little disappointed that it’s not happening until the third week of June,” he said by phone Monday.that he hoped sailings between Southeast Alaska and northern B.C. would resume May 1. The first voyage from Ketchikan to Prince Rupert is set for June 20, with a return trip the following day, according to the state ferry’s booking website.