Ferry Experts and Legislators to Discuss Steel Electric Ferries
Washington State Ferries will hold meetings regarding the status of the Steel Electric class vessels and Port Townsend/Keystone ferry service. Legislators and staff from affected ferry communities, Secretary of Transportation Paula Hammond and Washington State Ferries Executive Director Mike Anderson will review current ferry status and discuss future vessel and service options.John Boylston, Naval Architect, Legislative Joint Transportation Committee consultants and WSF engineers will present Steel Electric repair and replacement options. Legislators and their staff, shipyard representatives, Secretary of Transportation Paula Hammond and Washington State Ferries Executive Director Mike Anderson will likely attend. The meetings will be held in the Rainier Conference Room. On Tuesday, November 21, Secretary of Transportation Paula Hammond announced that Washington State Ferries would pull all Steel Electric class vessels out of service due to concerns about their safety. Washington State Ferries owns four 80-year-old Steel Electric class vessels – Quinault, Klickitat, Illahee and Nisqually. These vessels predominantly serve the Port Townsend/ Keystone and San Juan Islands inter-island routes. They are the only ferries in the system capable of operating in Keystone’s narrow and shallow harbor.