MV Matanuska, colloquially known as the Mat, is a mainline Malaspina-class ferry vessel operated by the Alaska Marine Highway System.

[1] Alaska voters approved a $23 million bond issue in November 1960 to fund a state ferry system.

[4] Puget Sound Bridge and Dry Dock Company of Seattle won the contract to build the three ships with a low bid of $10,445,000.

[5] Matanuska's keel was laid on July 6, 1962, in the same graving dock from which Taku was launched just a few days before.

[16] Matanuska's first route was from Prince Rupert, British Columbia, one end of the North American road network, to Skagway, with stops in Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, Sitka, Juneau, and Haines.

Cars embarking at Prince Rupert paid $118 to reach Haines, where they could once again connect to mainland roads, or $122.50 to go through to Skagway at the end of the line.

The Alaska Marine Highway System as a whole reached its four-year forecast for passenger boardings in the first six months of operation.

[19] Ferry traffic peaked during the summers when tourists visited Alaska, so routine maintenance on Matanuska has generally been scheduled during the winters.

She stopped at Lake Union Drydock Company for the installation of additional staterooms, Todd Shipyards for equipment overhauls, and back to her builder, Puget Sound Bridge and Dry Dock, for warranty work.

[25] Malaspina was lengthened in 1972 at the Willamette Iron and Steel Company in Portland, Oregon, to increase her capacity.

[32] Aside from her mechanical troubles, in 2020, Matanuska and the rest of the Alaska Marine Highway System were affected by COVID-19 and by budget cuts imposed by Governor Mike Dunleavy.

[33] Matanuska was scheduled to resume her mainline route from Bellingham to Skagway on July 3, 2020, but without service to the Prince Rupert terminal due to virus restrictions.

The waters of Southeast Alaska plied by Matanuska are complex, with a number of narrow passages, and high tidal ranges and swift currents are the norm.

This has led to a number of accidents over the years.Matanuska was passing through Sergius Narrows north of Sitka on August 31, 1963, when she scraped her port side on a submerged ledge.

[37] The ship was backing into the ferry terminal in Bellingham on February 1, 1991, when some sort of mechanical failure occurred.

[39] After an inspection by the U.S. Coast Guard, she was deemed seaworthy and continued onto other ports to pick up passengers, though two hours behind schedule.

The cause of the crash was determined to be conning errors made by the master, who attempted to use a known countercurrent to slow the ship on the approach into port.