WSF crews rescued four people in the past month

— from Amy Scanton for Washington State Ferries —

A shout out to our highly trained crewmembers for rescuing four people in the past month! A Samish crew rescued a person whose kayak overturned yesterday near our Lopez Island terminal. Last week, on July 9, a Walla Walla crewmembers saved an overturned kayaker while the vessel was docked in Edmonds. A few days earlier on July 5, two separate Kaleetan  crews assisted in the rescue of a person who went overboard near Bremerton. On June 7, Spokane crewmembers saved a person that riders spotted in the water between Edmonds and Kingston.

All of our deck crews must pass intensive training in rescue boat operations, as well as personal safety and survival.

I am continually impressed by the way our vessel crewmembers show why we are the best and safest ferry system in the world. We will be honoring these employees, and others from the last several months, with Life Ring Awards during our next all-staff webinar. We’ve been holding these virtual webinars every other week to keep employees updated during the pandemic. I extend my utmost admiration and thanks to all of you for your commitment to safety!

COVID-19 impacts continue

Our current schedules are dependent on four pillars of service based on our COVID Response Service Plan – ridership, crew availability, vessel availability and funding. With more than 100 of our vessel crewmembers unavailable due to the governor’s proclamation to protect high-risk employees, we continue have service impacts across our system, from the “Triangle” route in the south up to the San Juan Islands in the north. As a reminder, our Edmonds/ Kingston and Mukilteo/Clinton routes will be on one-boat service each Saturday and Sunday in July, in an effort to maintain some service on all routes during this difficult time.

If you have to catch a ferry right now, I encourage you to review our current schedules, sign up for ferry email alerts, check terminal conditions, review our COVID-19 travel updates and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.