Last night, we reported that a Washington State Ferries alert said the route will be back on the two-boat schedule next Monday because of boat moves. In today’s weekly report, WSF said that may last longer because of the repairs necessitating the boat moves:

This week brought another reminder of how fragile our ferry system is. We simply don’t have enough vessels available to cover unexpected issues. Tuesday night, Kitsap had to be removed from service because of an engine issue. That left our Mukilteo/Clinton route with only one boat yesterday and this morning. In a timely coincidence, Walla Walla was cleared for service late yesterday following successful sea trials, allowing that ferry to replace Chimacum this morning as our Seattle/Bremerton route’s single vessel. We then moved Chimacum to replace Sealth as the #3 boat at Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth, so Sealth can join Tokitae at Mukilteo/Clinton this afternoon.

Kitsap moved to our Eagle Harbor Maintenance Facility yesterday so our employees can fix an engine issue.

As we have done the past several weeks, tomorrow night we’ll move our “Triangle” route’s #3 boat, which does not run on winter weekends. That allows Chimacum to serve alongside Walla Walla to provide two-boat service at Seattle/Bremerton Saturday and most of Sunday. Walla Walla must then go in for scheduled maintenance and required inspection on Monday. With Chimacum remaining at Seattle/Bremerton as the route’s single ferry after the weekend, Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth will be on its two-boat weekday schedule next week. We expect Salish to return from its maintenance and inspection period next week and when it does, we will send it to the “Triangle” to serve as the unscheduled, bonus boat.

We should know more in the coming days about how long repairs to Kitsap will take. Our service plan for Monday and beyond may adjust depending on vessel availability.