Officials from the Mat-Su Borough say a ferry between Port MacKenzie and Anchorage is critical to its expansion plans for the port. If that ferry is to be built, it will likely be by Alaska Ship and Drydock Inc. in Ketchikan.

According to Marc Van Dongen, port director for the borough, Lockheed Martin is currently working on the design of the ferry and the borough has already secured funds to cover half the cost of constructing the vessel. Due in no small part to the efforts of the borough, Lockheed Martin and Alaska Ship and Drydock have executed a teaming agreement that essentially states the Ketchikan based company will be the one to build the ferry if the project comes to full fruition.

"We're delighted that (the borough) thought of Ketchikan," said Doug Ward, director of business development for Alaska Ship and Drydock. "They're really in the driver's seat right now for leading the charge. We're hoping that (Borough Manager) John Duffy and the borough up there can keep going with the project."

Van Dongen said Lockheed Martin should have the design work for the ferry completed by this time next year, and, dependant on funding, the borough hopes to have the ferry up and running by 2006. Ward said he was confident that Alaska Ship and Drydock could meet that goal.

"That's the time schedule we're working with," Ward said.

The proposed ferry would be built based off what is known as small waterplance area twin hull, or SWATH, technology. The style of vessel uses twin submerged hulls supported by short struts. The benefit of such a design is that it performs well in a variety of sea conditions. It's drawback, however, is that it has a deep draft, keeping it from operating in shallow water.

However, in what Lockheed Martin has named VariCraft, the ferry design would also incorporate commercial lift boat technology that would allow the boat to change from the SWATH mode to a barge mode by being able to lower and raise its center deck. In the barge mode, the vessel would have a draft of only three feet.

Based originally on military technology, the vessel could be used as a landing craft in its barge mode, needing very little infrastructure for docking. This, Ward said, could open many Alaska communities to ferry service that currently are without.

Additionally, the vessel's design when in the SWATH mode is capable of breaking pan ice and navigating rough seas.

"I like to call it the Humvee of Alaskan vessels - a kind of a go-anywhere, do-anything ship," Ward said. "What I like is the potential to open up ferry routes to communities that may not have dedicated ferry terminal facilities."

According to Port Director Van Dongen, the price for building the first ferry of this sort comes in at $18 million. The borough has so far secured $9 million in federal funds for the ferry's construction. Subsequent ferries, if they were built, should cost half the price of the first, Van Dongen said.

While Ward is excited about the prospect of Alaska Ship and Drydock constructing even one ferry, the opportunity to develop a shipbuilding industry in Ketchikan is even more exciting.

"This vessel, because it has a wider application in Alaska or other regions in the county, or the world for that matter, it offers a potential for a series of construction or a family of vessels," Ward said. "And that could be really valuable to us in the state...not only the economic benefit of having the ferries, but of all the value-added work that goes into building those ferries."

Ward said that while shipbuilding will not become the main focus at the facility that primarily does ship repairs, he noted that developing the shipbuilding aspect of the company is part of the facility's development plan.

"We've been trying to look down the road," Ward said. "Our development plan is based on a fleet of vessels that operate in Alaska...Lockheed came up with a design that fits right in our plan."

Ward said Alaska Ship and Drydock would not look to be competing with larger shipbuilders through its expansion, but would rather focus on building ships sized around 250 feet in length or less. Outside of oil tankers and cruise ships, Ward said the smaller vessels are predominately what operates in the state.

"These ships that are uniquely Alaskan, that's what we're here for," Ward said.