Ferry Services
Ketchikan receives service to two separate ferry lines. Ketchikan sits on the Alaska Marine Highway's Inside Passage route and sees a large number of ships northbound (to the rest of Alaska) and southbound (to Prince Rupert, British Columbia — where a six hour connection can be made to the BC Ferries system — and Bellingham, Washington). Ketchikan also sees regular day service from the Alaska Marine Highway vessel M/V Lituya, a day boat that shuttles between Ketchikan and Metlakatla, its homeport.

The Inter-Island Ferry Authority serves Ketchikan daily (and, in the summer, twice daily) with the dayboat M/V Prince of Wales from its homeport in Hollis on Prince of Wales Island. Ketchikan often serves as a connection between the Prince of Wales and mainline Alaska Marine Highway vessels that run to the rest of Southeast Alaska.

Alaska Marine Highway
The Alaska Marine Highway or the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) is a ferry service operated by the government of the U.S. state of Alaska. The Alaska Marine Highway System operates along the southcentral coast of the state, the eastern Aleutian islands and the Inside Passage of Alaska and British Columbia, Canada. Ferries serve communities in Southeastern Alaska that have no road access, and the vessels can transport people, freight, and vehicles. AMHS's 3,500 miles (5,600 km) of routes go as far south as Bellingham, Washington in the contiguous United States and as far west as Unalaska/Dutch Harbor, with a total of 32 terminals throughout Alaska, British Columbia, and Washington. It is part of the National Highway System and receives federal highway funding. It is also a form of transportation of vehicles between the state and the contiguous United States without going through Canada.

The Alaska Marine Highway System is a rare example (in the USA) of a shipping line offering regularly scheduled service for the primary purpose of transportation rather than of leisure or entertainment. Voyages can last many days, but, in contrast to the luxury of a typical cruise line, cabins cost extra, and most food is served cafeteria-style.
Communities Served by the Alaska Highway System:
The Alaska Marine Highway's main hub is in Juneau, though administrative offices were recently and controversially moved to Ketchikan. Other smaller operational hubs include Cordova (Prince William Sound), Ketchikan (southern Panhandle), and Kodiak (Southcentral Alaska).

The AMHS serves the following communities year-round: Akutan; Angoon; Bellingham, Washington; Chenega Bay; Chignik; Cold Bay; Cordova; False Pass; Haines; Homer; Hoonah; Juneau; Kake; Ketchikan; King Cove; Kodiak; Metlakatla; Petersburg; Port Lions; Prince Rupert, British Columbia; Sand Point; Seldovia; Sitka; Skagway; Tatitlek; Tenakee Springs; Unalaska/Dutch Harbor; Valdez; Whittier; Wrangell; and Yakutat. Bartlett Cove, location of the Glacier Bay National Park ranger station and eight miles (13 km) from the community of Gustavus, is served occasionally by the M/V LeConte in summer months.

M/V Lituya
The M/V Lituya is a shuttle ferry for the Alaska Marine Highway System. The M/V Lituya was built by Conrad Shipyards in Morgan City, Louisiana in 2004. The Lituya is the smallest vessel in the ferry system and, as of 2006[update] exclusively serving the 16.5 nautical mile Metlakatla-Ketchikan shuttle route, thus making it the only AMHS vessel to serve Metlakatla. The Lituya is one of the three ferry system vessels designed to operate only in the day (the others are the fast ferries M/V Chenega and M/V Fairweather) so it homeports in Metlakatla where its crew of six also resides. The Lituya has no food service on board and is also the only Alaska Marine Highway vessel to feature an open car deck (the design of the Lituya was based on offshore oil platform supply vessels).

Inter-Island Ferry Authority
The Inter-Island Ferry Authority (IFA) is a ferry service in the U.S. state of Alaska with its headquarters based in Craig on Prince of Wales Island.

Communities Served by the Inter-Island Ferry Authority
The Inter-Island Ferry Authority administers two vessels, each with its own daily route:
M/V Prince of Wales — Hollis-Ketchikan-Hollis (the trip occurs twice daily during summer months)
M/V Stikine — Coffman Cove-Wrangell-Petersburg†-Wrangell-Coffman Cove
Although Hollis and Coffman Cove are the only Prince of Wales Island communities to receive direct service from the ferries, since the most of the island is connected by a network of logging industry-era roads, the ferry service also serves the Prince of Wales Island communities of Craig, Hydaburg, Kasaan, Klawock, Nautaki, Thorne Bay, and Whale Pass.

BC Ferries System
British Columbia Ferry Services Inc. or BC Ferries (abbr. BCF) is a de facto Crown Corporation that provides all major passenger and vehicle ferry services for coastal and island communities in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Set up in 1960 to provide a substantially better service than those provided by the Black Ball Line and the Canadian Pacific Railway, which were affected by job action at the time, BC Ferries has become the largest passenger ferry line in North America and the second largest in the world, boasting a fleet of 37 vessels with a total passenger and crew capacity of over 27,000, serving 49 locations on the B.C. coast.

As BC Ferries provides an essential link from mainland Canada to the various islands on its routes, it is subsidized by Transport Canada. The subsidy for 2004-2005 was CAD $25 million[2] and is adjusted annually to keep pace with the rate of inflation.

It should be noted that the inland ferries operating on British Columbia's rivers and lakes are not run by BC Ferries. The responsibility for their provision rests with the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation, which contracts operation to various private sector companies.

Regional Districts Served by the BC Ferry System
Capital, Central Coast, Comox Valley, Cowichan Valley, Metro Vancouver, Mount Waddington, Nanaimo, Powell River, Skeena-Queen Charlotte, Strathcona, Sunshine Coast.