Here’s what WSF has to say for itself this week

||| FROM WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES |||

Seattle/Bremerton route late night sailings to be restored March 10

As Patty mentioned last week, our route-by-route service restoration will be a slow turn of the dial rather than a flip of the switch. The first turn came in November, when we trialed a full schedule on our Anacortes/San Juan Islands run. We’re ready to move the dial again with restoration of late-night sailings that have been suspended since early in the pandemic. The first will be on our Seattle/Bremerton route, whose customers have felt the effects of reduced service longer than most of our other runs. Starting Thursday, March 10, we’ll resume the 11:40 p.m. out of Bremerton and the 12:50 a.m. Seattle departure.

While we’re unable to restore early morning sailings on our Seattle/Bremerton route until a second boat is added back to the route, we’re exploring more options to increase service while on one-boat service.

We’re now focused on incrementally adding back service on a route-by-route basis, including the restoration of late-night sailings on other runs, based on ridership, alternative transportation options and vessel availability. As a reminder, we’re still operating our alternate service schedules on most routes. Should crewing allow, we’ll put a second boat into service on our Seattle/Bainbridge, Edmonds/Kingston and Mukilteo/Clinton routes on a daily basis. We continue to encourage riders to sign up for our rider alerts to stay updated on what schedule we’re operating on each route each day.

Human Resource Consultant Megan Trieschmann welcomes four new oilers, our second engine new employee orientation class in 2022.

Spring season vehicle reservations available March 10

Vehicle reservations for travel on March 27 to June 18 on our Anacortes/San Juan Islands and Port Townsend/Coupeville routes will go live at 7 a.m. Thursday, March 10. This release includes the final two weeks of winter season (March 27 to April 9) and our spring season (April 10 to June 18). As a reminder, we pushed back the start of our spring season by two weeks to ensure increased reliability as we work to increase to spring service levels while continuing to face crewing challenges. For our Anacortes/San Juan Islands run, another batch of reservations will be released two weeks before each specific sailing. The remaining space on each sailing will be available two days before.

Inaugural engine room resource management course

Workforce development is vital as we build back our crewing personnel. Last month, we held our first ever U.S. Coast Guard-approved Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping Engine Room Resource Management (ERM) course at Seattle Maritime Academy. The class is designed to help our engine room teams on the skills needed to be effective, timely and safe in both routine and emergency scenarios.

Oilers Spencer Hill and Flynn Rector react to a simulated casualty during an assessment while Chief Engineer Joseph Shipley evaluates the effectiveness of their communication.

The course is unique as we perform assessments in a simulator, allowing students a realistic scenario where leadership, communication skills and decision-making is put to the test. Most ERM classes are lectured classes with case studies. We look forward to organizing many more courses like this to invest in our employees’ professional development!

Alternate Staff Chief Engineer Scott Gast, Assistant Engineer Justin Bly and Oiler Devon Baxter work through a simulation while Alternate Staff Chief Engineer Elizabeth Adams provides guidance and feedback.

Face masks still required after state’s mandate ends March 12

A face covering will still be required for all our riders and employees in public areas of our vessels and terminals after the state’s mask mandate ends on Saturday, March 12. That’s because our system is regulated by the federal government, like airlines and rail service, and falls under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) public transportation order.

Fauntleroy terminal project Community Advisory Group meetings

We met with our Fauntleroy terminal project Community Advisory Group (CAG) last night to discuss potential alternatives for replacing the terminal. CAG members represent all three communities served by our Fauntleroy terminal – Fauntleroy, Vashon and Southworth – and are helping to advise us on how to replace the aging, seismically vulnerable terminal. Our project website includes details on the meeting. That’s also where you can register to view the next CAG meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 16. Project-related questions and comments are always welcome via email.

Kraken flags fly on vessels serving Seattle’s Colman Dock

Hockey fans in and around Seattle celebrated the first ever Kraken Day yesterday, March 2. It’s the start of an annual celebration of the National Hockey League’s 32nd franchise. We were happy to join in on the citywide celebration as we flew the team’s flag on all our ferries that serve Colman Dock. I also want to wish the team luck on their next game at the Washington Capitals on Saturday, March 5!

40-year service award

We recently presented a 40-year service award to Relief Terminal Supervisor Phil Olwell. Phil has worked at our terminals since he started with us and has been a supervisor since 1998. Thank you, Phil, for your service and dedication over the years. Congratulations!