Elwha out of service – Evergreen and Hiyu sail the Anacortes and interisland routes

Yesterday, March 25, WSDOT Ferries Division (WSF) removed the 144-auto ferry Elwha from service to address an emerging drive motor repair.

Customers should expect service disruptions on the Anacortes/San Juan Islands route this morning, the ferries department reported.

The regular schedule will resume this afternoon when a vessel that was scheduled to tie up for the day will continue sailing. The ferry system’s only back-up vessel is on its way to the islands to begin service Thursday morning.Engineers have been monitoring a drive motor concern with the Elwha since last weekend. The vessel was slowed in an attempt to review the problem, and on March 25 the Elwha switched sailing positions with the Yakima so that crews could perform sea trials and troubleshoot.

Late Wednesday night, the Port Engineer on call made the decision that the Elwha needed to be removed from service.

Crews were quickly mobilized to perform vessel moves as soon as possible to minimize service disruptions.

The144-auto Yakima was called in to replace the Elwha, restoring normal service levels for the remainder of the day March 26.

The 34-auto Hiyu, the ferry system’s only back-up vessel, made a detour from WSF’s Eagle Harbor Maintenance Facility to take over inter-island service Thursday morning.

The 87-auto Evergreen State will then provide service between Anacortes and the San Juan Islands, along with the Yakima and the 90-auto Sealth.

Customers should be prepared for reduced capacity on inter-island sailings and should arrive at the terminal early to ensure that they can travel on their desired sailing.

Customers should also be aware that the Hiyu has no restrooms on the car deck, and the stairwells to the passenger deck are narrow.

WSF currently anticipates that the Elwha will be out of service for a minimum of two days. More investigation is needed before the full extent of the necessary repairs is known.

Updates will be posted on the WSF Web site at www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries. Customers can sign up for free e-mail alerts about service disruptions and other route information by clicking on the link in the far left column of the Web site.