WSF Weekly Report | New baby on board, customer kudo, recruiting veterans, a look at new ferries

||| FROM STEVE NEVEY for WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES |||

A message from Steve

When I started at Washington State Ferries it was clear we had a major challenge with workforce development. It took years to get into this predicament and I’ll be honest, it’ll take years to fix – but we’re on the right course now. Prior to the pandemic, my predecessors warned of an upcoming “silver tsunami,” or wave of retirements among licensed deck and engine room crews. We needed more funding then, but with urgent transportation needs around the state, that money has only been provided in the last few years. 

California State University Maritime Academy Cadet Eliora Barca took this photo of our Kennewick crewmembers performing fire drill during a recent U.S. Coast Guard inspection. She has integrated well with the crew and is one example of what we’re doing to share our career opportunities with a new generation of mariners.

So, what are we doing with this funding? We’re investing in the future of our workforce. We’ve started several programs to support our existing crewmembers in getting the training and credentials to move into licensed positions. We now have the resources to hire and recruit more employees externally, helping us be more flexible in bringing in new hires. For example, we have an engine room internship with Seattle Maritime Academy which is teaching young people the engine room trade. Then there’s our scholarship program with the Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies that brings in completely fresh people and trains them to become licensed deck officers in two years. These are just a few of the many programs we’ve built that we could only dream about a few years ago.

I’ve said it before though, it will take time to see results. But we’re heading in the right direction in developing a workforce that will help in significantly reducing our number of canceled sailings due to crewing.

Sailing stats for week of July 22-28

For the week of July 22-28, we completed 97% of our 2,829 scheduled sailings. We were able to replace one of our 85 canceled sailings that were due to crewing (40%), tides (9%) and schedule resets (51%), when a boat is so far behind schedule, we cancel a sailing to get it back on schedule, providing predictability for customers.

Highlighting our employment opportunities to veterans

We hosted veterans interested in entering the maritime industry aboard Walla Walla yesterday to showcase the careers we offer. During a roundtrip sailing between Seattle and Bremerton, the group toured the wheelhouse and engine room, and we also provided information about pay, schedules and the credentialing needed for various jobs. Our partnership with Soldiers to Civilians, which assists veterans transitioning to civilian life, is one of many things we are doing to remove barriers and create robust pipelines for both internal and external candidates.

I spoke to the group of veterans with Soldiers to Civilians in the Walla Walla passenger cabin about our career opportunities at Washington State Ferries. 

Baby on board: Healthy boy born aboard Samish

Our crew working on Samish helped deliver a healthy baby boy aboard the ferry Tuesday afternoon. Just as the vessel was about to depart Lopez Island for Anacortes, a man flagged down a crewmember and explained that his wife was in labor on the car deck. The crew and several doctors and nurses who were passengers on board immediately sprang into action. They took her in a wheelchair to the boat’s medical room and assisted with the labor until Lopez Island Fire and EMS arrived. Mom gave birth shortly after. Congratulations to the family and thank you to everyone who assisted.

Baby Arlo is doing great, along with mom Candice, dad Justice and his 5-year-old sister, after entering the world Tuesday aboard Samish, weighing 7 pounds, 1 ounce.

New look at future hybrid-electric ferries

We have new renderings of what our five hybrid-electric vessels will look like. On first glance they appear to be very similar to our current fleet. But if you look closely, you’ll notice large green boxes on the top deck. Those are the boat’s charging receptacles. Below deck, you’ll find a flexible hybrid propulsion plant that includes two diesel engines as well as two battery banks, powering two electric motors on each end. Other features include open-air passenger lounges beneath each wheelhouse and 47 more feet of length than our Olympic-class ferries, increasing vehicle capacity from 144 to 160. The cornerstone of our system electrification efforts, the vessels will reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 76% by the year 2040. 

The new hybrid-electric ferries will have three modes of operation – diesel, battery only or hybrid mode – and feature rapid charging technology to charge the batteries during each scheduled terminal stop.

Overhead loading closed at Bainbridge terminal Tuesday, Aug. 13

The overhead loading at our Bainbridge terminal will be closed for most of the day Tuesday, Aug. 13. All ferry passengers will need to load and unload via the car deck until about 4 p.m. During the closure, plan for possible boarding and offloading delays as crews install the final mechanical components and additional interior features of the new walkway. The pedestrian route alongside the holding lanes between the terminal building and the ferry will be clearly marked. This work is part of our Bainbridge overhead loading replacement project, which is now in its final stages.

Our new Bainbridge terminal overhead loading walkway (right-center in green) opened in February.

Customer kudos

“Upon arrival in Edmonds the key fob was saying it did not recognize the car and the car would not start. Ferry is empty, and they have tried to jump start the car. One crew member (Bosun Blaine Lovato) said give me your key fob, he opened it then opened his, took his battery out, and put it in my key fob…..car started! I didn’t get his name, but I wanted to make sure he got a ‘shout out’ for his thoughtfulness. I asked him how he was going to get into his car, he told me not to worry he’d get a new battery. All the members of that run were very nice and very patient. I felt HORRIBLE for holding the entire boat schedule up.”

-Edmonds/Kingston route customer