Local

Repairs to damaged Fauntleroy terminal underway

SEATTLE — Repairs to the Fauntleroy ferry terminal in West Seattle have begun as a barge with a crane was at the site on Monday.

The Cathlamet ferry crashed into a dock structure at the terminal in July and caused damage to the boat and at least two cars.

One person was believed to be in one of the vehicles at the time of the crash, although no injuries were reported.

Washington State Ferries said on Monday that contractors would start demolition on the damaged dock piles and remove a concrete pile cap.

Permanent repairs are expected to occur in the fall and winter.

While the terminal had reopened in the afternoon after the U.S. Coast Guard investigated what WSF called a “hard landing” the day of the incident, the Cathlamet was moved out of the terminal and made several stops for crewing purposes before it was taken to the Eagle Harbor maintenance facility.

The captain of the ferry had resigned shortly after the incident.

Officials had reviewed video of the landing and determined the ferry was going too fast — but the NTSB has yet to release an official cause of what went wrong.

Repairs for the dock are expected to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Repairs to the ferry could end up costing as much as $7 million, according to Ian Sterling with Washington State Ferries.