SEATTLE, Wash. — In a conversation with KIRO 7 Sunday afternoon, Justin Fujioka, a Spokesperson for the Washington Department of Transportation, said staffing shortages prompted mass schedule changes, delays, and cancellations in Ferry routes across the Sound.
According to WSDOT, ferry crew members must meet Coast Guard requirements, and staffing minimums of 12-15 crew members, depending on the vessel’s size, make finding replacements when employees call out time-consuming.
Despite these shortages, the department said Sunday’s scheduling changes are not necessarily unusual but instead reflect the department’s effort to better communicate with the public when ferry routes change.
Here are the latest updates:
The #1 Chelan is in service. #2 Yakima goes out of service after the 6:20 p.m. departure from Friday Harbor to Lopez and Anacortes. The #3 Samish is out of service.
The #4 Tillikum will continue interisland service, then take additional traffic from Anacortes to Friday Harbor on the unscheduled 4:05 pm.
Canceled Sailing:
5:35 pm - Anacortes > Lopez > Friday Harbor (Westbound)
6:30 pm - Lopez > Friday Harbor (Westbound)
7:35 pm - Friday Harbor > Lopez (Eastbound)
8:15 pm - Anacortes > Lopez > Friday Harbor (Westbound)
8:20 pm - Lopez > Anacortes (Eastbound)
9:10 pm - Lopez > Friday Harbor (Westbound)
10:05 pm- Friday Harbor > Anacortes (Eastbound)
Sailing Schedule:
3:20 pm - Anacortes > Orcas > Shaw (Westbound)
4:05 pm - Anacortes > Friday Harbor Westbound) Tillikum #4
4:20 pm - Anacortes > Lopez > Friday Harbor (Westbound)
4:35 pm - Orcas > Shaw (Eastbound)
4:50 pm - Shaw > Anacortes (Eastbound)
6:05 pm - Anacortes > Shaw > Orcas (Westbound)
6:20 pm - Friday Harbor > Lopez (Eastbound)
7:05 pm - Lopez > Anacortes (Eastbound) Last trip from Lopez.
7:05 pm - Shaw > Orcas (Westbound)
7:30 pm - Orcas > Anacortes (Eastbound)
8:40 pm - All stops: Anacortes > Lopez > Shaw > Orcas > Friday Harbor (Westbound). If possible, the crew will accommodate picking up Eastbound traffic after they drop westbound traffic, and from Friday Harbor will go straight back to Anacortes.
11:00 pm - Unscheduled departure from Friday Harbor; this will be the Chelan. New reservations and changes are blocked for the day. Customers on canceled sailings will be accommodated on other departures on a first-come, first-served basis. Customers traveling on a standby basis can expect delays.
If your ferry route was changed or canceled Sunday and you choose not to take the boat, WSDOT told KIRO 7 no-show fees were waived Sunday.
Fujioka told KIRO 7 shortly before 5 pm that the department’s focus was to get at least one boat running on each route.
“We do have a schedule; our terminal employees there work really hard to kind of come up with a service plan to get as many people as possible with those two remaining vessels throughout the remainder of the night,” Fujioka said.
Number of Boats in Service/ Route:
- Anacortes/San Juan Islands: 2 of 4 boats in service
- Port Towsend/Coupeville: Normal service
- Mukilteo/Clinton: 1 of 2 boats in service
- Edmonds/Kingston: Normal service
- Seattle/Bainbridge: 1 of 2 boats in service
- Seattle/Bremerton: 1 of 2 boats in service
- Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth: Normal service
- Point Defiance/Tahlequah: Normal service
In addition to delays, WSDOT announced earlier Sunday afternoon that the Anacortes Ferry Terminal was experiencing an internet outage. It was unclear in our conversation with WSDOT later that evening whether the outage was still in progress. The original announcement said the outage was expected to last through Monday morning.
Fujioka told KIRO 7 that the safety of travelers is WSDOT’s top priority, but that they also understand how much cancellations and schedule changes can impact a person’s day.
“Every sailing is important, and every cancellation we know has a significant impact on at least somebody.”
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