Ferry could be out until next year

OLYMPIA – Car ferry service between Port Townsend and Whidbey Island could be grounded until early next year while up to $4 million is spent fixing the Quinault ferry, Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond said Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Washington State Ferries announced it would pull its four 80-year-old Steel Electric class vessels out of service to examine the hulls of the Quinault, Klickitat, Illahee and Nisqually.

Cracks and corrosion in the hulls of the boats have raised serious questions about the safety of the state’s oldest ferries in recent months.

The announcement came just as people were gearing up for Thanksgiving weekend.

“For us, the issue is safety first, no matter what,” Hammond said. “Our apologies for the inconvenience – it really couldn’t have come at a worse time. We’re trying to do everything we can to minimize disruption and provide some ongoing service.”

Another ferry will replace the Illahee on the San Juan Islands inter-island route, but no car-carrying vessel will replace the Klickitat on the Port Townsend-Keystone crossing. A passenger-only ferry will start runs on that route today or Friday, Hammond said.

At the Mukilteo-Clinton ferry dock, the ferry service posted extra signs saying that the Port Townsend car ferry is out of service.

Frank Kelsey, of Seattle, was traveling with his wife to Whidbey Island to spend Thanksgiving with family. While his travel plans were not affected, he said he thought the ferries should be replaced.

“I think safety is the determining factor,” he said. “When they become unsafe they have to be evaluated whether they can be economically repaired.”

The Quinault is dry-docked at Todd Shipyard in Seattle, and Hammond said the ferry system has asked that it be fixed by January. The Klickitat, Illahee and Nisqually are all dry-docked at different locations. The plan is to inspect the Klickitat and Illahee over the next couple of months. Hammond said they didn’t yet have a plan for the Nisqually.

Hammond said the Transportation Department will have to talk to the Legislature about the costs of either replacing the hulls of the boats or building new ones.

In the meantime, the ferry system wants to get the Quinault and at least one of the other boats up and running. Replacing hulls or building new vessels could take up to three years, Hammond said.

Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, chairwoman of the Senate Transportation Committee, said that restoring car ferry service to that route and ensuring the overall safety of the system will be her top priority when the legislative session begins in January.

“This is truly like a bridge going down,” she said. “There are very moderate-income folks on both sides who use that ferry to get to work. With the cost of fuel now, this is really going to have a huge impact.”

To help make up for loss of the Port Townsend-Keystone car service, a third car ferry was to will be added to the Edmonds-Kingston route from Wednesday through Sunday to handle holiday traffic.