Eventually, the Borough offered to either transfer the ferry for free to government entities in the U.S. in January 2013 or to sell the ship to a commercial interest.

Design and construction costs were funded by the United States Navy Office of Naval Research to study the technology for its potential as a new type of expeditionary landing craft, also called an "E-craft".

[8] Susitna was a project of Senator Ted Stevens, who helped secure numerous earmarks through Defense Department budgets to pay for the ship.

In 2008 then mayor of the Municipality of Anchorage Mark Begich terminated the 2002 agreement with the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, who then bore sole responsibility for the project.

The borough favored a site at Ship Creek, an industrial area already used for offshore docking of tugboats, however, offloading of vehicles requires a ferry landing.

[5][10] In August 2011 the borough government was informed they were expected to take possession of the ship within a month, and that they were required to provide berthing fees and other expenses even though the vessel was not in service, an estimated annual cost of 1.3 million dollars.

Concerned with taxpayers paying for operations costs on a ship that has no revenue, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly agreed to either transfer the vessel to any U.S. government entity or sell it to a commercial interest.

[13] In May 2013, the borough agreed to sell the vessel to a private company for $6 million, a small fraction of its worth but enough to cover their obligations related to it.

[18] Its first deployment was on 2020 as part of PRC's disaster relief operations in the Philippine province of Catanduanes after being ravaged by Typhoon Rolly (Goni).