KETCHIKAN—Wednesday, the M/V Susitna Ferry floated for the first time.

"It felt really pretty good," said Co-Inventor Lew Madden. "The whole yard was there feeling a strong sense of pride, some of them hadn't slept for 30 hours. It was intense. The winds were blowing badly. It was something. We've got ourselves a boat now," said Madden, who is also the Owner's Representative for the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, which will own the ship.

Madden said the ship was moved from its building pad to its outfitting berth. The Susitna will next go through final outfitting, dock trials, builders sea trials, and owners sea trials.

The Susitna is expected to arrive in the Mat-Su this fall.

Passenger service will be possible using existing infrastructure.

A study projects that the Susitna Ferry will create up to 700 jobs in Anchorage.

The Susitna is being built at the Alaska Ship & Drydock in Ketchikan.

Photo by Lew Madden.

For more information call Borough Manager John Duffy at 745-9689.

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