PORT TOWNSEND – Full two-ferry service will remain on the Port Townsend-Keystone route today after Coast Guard safety officials agreed to a Washington State Ferries request to delay pulling the MV Nisqually from service until Aug. 14.
The Port Townsend-Keystone route was in jeopardy of losing the Nisqually today, reducing the run to one vessel, the MV Klickitat, for about three weeks.
Coast Guard safety inspectors in June ordered all old concrete ballast removed from the Nisqually and three other Steel Electric ferry hulls to allow for closer inspections.
The Coast Guard’s inspection division chief, John D. Dwyer, had originally set a deadline of today to pull the Nisqually out of service if state ferries had not yet removed the concrete ballast.
However, considering the extenuating circumstance, Dwyer allowed the deadline extension.
“We just wanted to make sure we could have two boats to serve the community,” said Marta Coursey, state ferries director of communications, adding that the fact that it is the peak of the tourism season on the North Olympic Peninsula had a bearing on the decision.
“It really was a matter of contacting (Coast Guard officials) and saying, ‘This was going to put our communities in stress.'”
Port Townsend’s ferry dock vehicle holding facilities have been at maximum capacity in recent weeks, often with at least 20 cars spilling out onto Water Street.
Weekends often require the use of additional holding lanes at Indian Point, where Sims Way meets Water Street.
