No, the ferry’s not in trouble. It’s the new M/V Tokitae.

| Seen at sea | West Seattle news

(Added: Photo of Tokitae this evening, courtesy JayDee in Upper Alki)
We’ve received some questions about a ferry that seemed stalled in the water off Alki Point earlier this hour. No, it’s not in trouble. We checked via MarineTraffic.com; it’s the new Washington State Ferries vessel M/V Tokitae, built at Vigor on Harbor Island and scheduled to go into service next month.

seaopgal May 21, 2014 (8:26 pm)

Any idea how long it is going to be there? Or has it moved on already?

WSB May 21, 2014 (8:46 pm)

According to MarineTraffic.com, it’s near West Point right now and has been tracking back and forth between North Seattle and Alki Point, north/south/north/south – interesting track. So you might see it off Alki Point before it’s totally dark – it seems to be heading south right now.

seaopgal May 22, 2014 (5:52 am)

Thanks, WSB … I couldn’t get down there last night, but I’ll look for it today.

Sue May 22, 2014 (7:26 am)

Thanks for the info WSB. We’ve seen that ferry cruising around Elliott Bay at odd times for the past week or so, and were wondering what was going on.

Enviromaven May 22, 2014 (9:19 am)

Tokitae on the water! This ferry was named as a tribute to one of our southern resident orcas who was captured and is still performing at SeaWorld in Miami under the name of Lolita.

Brian Bundridge May 22, 2014 (10:32 am)

The Tokitae is undergoing sea trials currently with Vigor.

They will be doing this for some time before she enters service. There should be a Coast Guard evacuation training at some point this month or early next month before it can be certified for service.