The Alaska ferry Taku’s next life will be as a floating hotel.
Portland-based KeyMar LLC made the winning bid of $300,000 for the 54-year-old ship.
Marine Highway System General Manager John Falvey said KeyMar beat out two other bidders, who wanted to scrap the ship.
“Their plan is to do some renovation on the Taku and turn it into a destination hotel and waterfront activities center,” Falvey said.
The competing companies offered $50,000 each. The bidding deadline was Sept. 15.
The Taku is tied up at Ketchikan’s Ward Cove. Falvey says it will be towed to Portland after the sale goes through and the new owner takes possession. That date has not been set.
Falvey said the ferry system has removed the Taku’s art and safety gear.
“Half a million dollars’ worth of equipment is being distributed to active ships in the fleet as needed, as we speak. And some of the equipment will be used for the two Alaska Class ferries,” Falvey said.
Those new, smaller ships are being built at the Ketchikan Shipyard.
State officials have been trying to sell the Taku since spring of this year. It was first priced at $1.5 million, then at $700,000.
The latest minimum price was not made public. Falvey said it was $350,000, more than the winning bid, but close enough.
The Taku was built in 1963. It was tied up in 2015 as the ferry system looked for ways to balance its budget.
Ed Schoenfeld is Regional News Director for CoastAlaska, a consortium of public radio stations in Ketchikan, Juneau, Sitka, Petersburg and Wrangell.
He primarily covers Southeast Alaska regional topics, including the state ferry system, transboundary mining, the Tongass National Forest and Native corporations and issues.
He has also worked as a manager, editor and reporter for the Juneau Empire newspaper and Juneau public radio station KTOO. He’s also reported for commercial station KINY in Juneau and public stations KPFA in Berkley, WYSO in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and WUHY in Philadelphia. He’s lived in Alaska since 1979 and is a contributor to Alaska Public Radio Network newscasts, the Northwest (Public Radio) News Network and National Native News. He is a board member of the Alaska Press Club. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, he lives in Douglas.
