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Travelers in Southeast, Alaska SPRING DEBUT: Winged vessels will run 6-8 feet above water. The Associated Press |
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JUNEAU -- Southeast residents will have a new way of traveling between Juneau, Haines and Skagway next year, and they're likely to turn heads while they're at it. Anchorage businessman Linus Romey said he will bring to the Panhandle wing-in-ground effect vehicles that operate much like a hydrofoil. Romey is president of Pacific Seaflight. The company plans to operate two vessels out of Juneau next spring and two more out of Ketchikan in 2005. It would mark the first use of the wing-in-ground effect ships in the United States. During the summer, the eight-passenger vessels will make four daily runs from Juneau up Lynn Canal to Haines and Skagway and five daily runs to Hoonah on Chichigof Island, he said. Lynn Canal trips will take about an hour and cost $60 one way. Trips to Hoonah will take just over a half hour and cost $38 one way. The ship, a Flightship FS8 Dragon Commuter, has an epoxy composites hull and superstructure and rides on a cushion of air about 6 to 8 feet above the water. The cushion is created and maintained by the forward motion of the boat. The vessel runs on a Chevy V8 motor and travels at speeds of up to 85 knots -- about 98 mph -- on 16 gallons of gasoline an hour, Romey said. The Seaflight vessels do not take in any water. "It's very quiet, and there's no exchange of fluid with the marine environment," Romey said. "This is a big environmental issue." The ships create 75 decibels of noise from a distance of about 100 yards, and because they travel above the surface of the water, there is a significantly reduced chance of the vessels colliding with whales or other marine wildlife, he said. The ships will depart from downtown Juneau, Romey said. Coast Guard Lt. Dan Buchs- baum said that before the vessel is allowed to operate in Alaska waters it must undergo a plan review by marine engineers and naval architects to make sure the technology is sound. "That's standard for any type of new vessel," Buchsbaum said. The Coast Guard also will conduct fire drills and other safety drills to make sure the vessels are operating properly. Romey said the ships will not travel when seas are 12 feet or higher. Australian-based Flightship Ground Effect is the parent company for Pacific Seaflight. Romey said Flightship is putting the vessels into service in Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines. It costs Flightship about $800,000 to build each ship. The company will lease them to Pacific Seaflight, Romey said. In July, he put together a business plan for the fledgling company and contributed $10,000 of his own money. Another investor has put up $30,000, but Pacific Seaflight needs about $500,000 to begin operations, Romey said. He said the U.S. Small Business Administration will guarantee his company an 80 percent loan for the startup. He has several interested investors for securing the other 20 percent and can obtain a loan if they do not work out, he said. "This is going to happen one way or another." |
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Pacific Seaflight plans to operate two wing-in-ground effect vessels out of Juneau next spring and two more out of Ketchikan in 2005. It would mark the first use of such ships in the United States. The vehicles operate much like hydrofoils, riding on a cushion of air created by their forward motion.