8:29 AM: M/V Klahowya remains out of service on the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth route today, according to Washington State Ferries, because of a “lack of qualified crew.” That means the route remains on a 2-boat schedule; you can see it here.
1:17 PM: WSF says it’s back on a three-boat schedule.
Sounds like someone didn’t get the time off they wanted so they called in sick anyway. Ferry boats have a minimum amount of deck hands and engine room staff before they can sail.
I hope to find out something more from WSF communications tomorrow – if you follow the link to the “alerts” (updates), there also are other changes around the system, mostly in galley service, that are attributed to lack of staff.
Often the “lack of qualified personnel” means one of two things 1) a dispatch issue 2) car break-down, woke up sick, family emergency, etc.
Heres what really happens:
The crew that runs the #3 boat on the weekends is a makeup crew dispatched from all over the sound. Because of the way our vacations are bid out by seniority, more are allowed during the summer months ( Makes sense if you value family time ). Retirements, Sick, Not enough time off between watches (12 hours minimum as per USCG regs) and many other positions to fill up and down the sound and you can see that our dispatchers have quite a heavy load. So when it says not enough qualified crew its not because we weren’t trying to get to work, its just that were spread very thin…….
Mark
I relied on the website which said they were using 2 boats. When I got to the terminal I was told they had been on 3 boats for awhile. I checked the website again and it still said 2 boats.
I rearranged my entire day and the day of the person I was meeting in Port Orchard because of what I saw on the website. I’m so angry that all that disruption was for no reason and all that needed to be done to avoid having several angry customers was to simply update the website when the status changed. Grrrrrr!
What time was that, Been there? FWIW – the “back to 3 boats” message was sent by WSF at 12:15 pm. We did not see it for about an hour and that’s when I updated here.
It was 12:10pm. After I complained to the ticket seller in the waiting room I overheard him talking to someone about the website. So they must have changed it after I said something.
Sorry, comment time is over.
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