Ferry passengers will be heading to Kodiak from Homer after electrical problems caused delays for the MV Kennicott, impacting passengers and risking the livelihoods of commercial operators.

Aurah Landau, a spokesperson for the Alaska Marine Highway System in the area, says passengers will be transported on the ferry Sunday night while many of their vehicles will be transported on the next sailing from Homer on April 21.

Landau says some passengers chose to give up their tickets to essential travelers to Kodiak. "It took a lot of people pulling together to make this happen."

It's unknown the exact impact that the delays could have on commercial operators, said Landau.

Officials with the Alaska Marine Highway System debated how best to solve the problem of the people and vehicles stuck in Homer. It was ultimately decided to cram as many vehicles as possible that were essential for travel for the April 8 sailing and then take the rest almost two weeks later.

Staging vehicles at the terminal will be allowed until April 21 and fees were waived for changing or cancelling tickets.

Landau described the problem started April 6 when the elevator used to get vehicles on and off the Kennicott broke down and the computer processor was fried.

The delay lasted for 33 hours as experts were brought in to fix the problem. Not only did they have to replace an electrical component, but the computer system then had to be completely re-coded as well.

The ship is now up and running but the knock on effects were disastrous for passengers stuck in Homer.

Landau says she doesn’t have a ballpark figure for how many people have been impacted by the delays but says they have been damaging for fisherman and construction workers as they ship cargo to Kodiak. “The entire fishing season can rely on the ferries running on time.”

She described that “people are mobilizing their operations out of Homer and out of the Kenai Peninsula” and callers to Channel 2 News say the delays could cost them thousands of dollars.

An automated message played by the Homer ferry terminal said the Alaska Marine Highway system “cancelled the sailing that was scheduled to depart Homer at 2:00 a.m. Saturday, April 7.”

Although the Sunday sailing was fully booked for vehicles, the ferry was able to accommodate a few of the stranded passengers. Rick Allingson says he was one of the lucky ones.

"I’ve got an excavator that I need out at a remote site and if I can’t get it in Kodiak before the week is out, it would cost me $17,000 to charter another landing craft," Allingson told Channel 2 by phone.

Landau says the Alaska Marine Highway system saw a $29 million dollar funding cut from FY13 to the present day and two ships removed from the fleet. The loss means the system is “not very flexible dealing with weather or mechanical failures.”

The MV Tustumena that also services the area is currently in a scheduled annual maintenance and was unavailable to help.