What Caused A Washington State Ferry to Run Aground?

This past Saturday, nearly 600 passengers aboard the Washington State Ferry M/V Walla Walla received quite the scare over their weekend.

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The Ferry ran aground en route from Seattle to Bremerton at roughly 4:30 in the afternoon.  It's another bump in the road as the Washington State Ferry system looks to return to pre-COVID operations.

What Has the Ferry System Been Dealing With?

The system has been dealing with staffing shortages since the service resumed during the pandemic.  A ferry service to Sydney, British Columbia from Anacortes has been suspended for at least another seven years with an estimated resumption in 2030.  That is not just a result of staff but also boat shortages as well.

So What Happened to the M/V Walla Walla?

In the interim other boats will have to pick up the slack meaning that delays will occur on the route serviced by the M/V/ Walla Walla until repairs are complete.  WSF announced the alternate schedule for today in a release on their website.  WSF also announced the Fauntleroy/Vashon, Fauntleroy/Southworth and Southworth/Vashon routes will run on an alternate schedule.