PORT TOWNSEND — Generator repair work was completed on the 50-car ferry Steilacoom II Thursday afternoon, and, if sea trials show the ferry is up to it, service between Port Townsend and Keystone will resume this morning.
“That is our hope, but I don’t have that confirmed yet,” said Marta Coursey, Washington State Ferries spokeswoman, Thursday night.
Crews were to conduct sea trials of the repaired ferry for about eight hours Thursday night, Coursey said. If all went well, the ferry was expected to be back in service this morning, she said.
Any delay would be because of the condition of the ferry, not the weather, she added.
Washington State Department of Transportation Ferries Division shut down service all day Thursday on the Port Townsend-Keystone route to rebuild one of the Steilacoom II’s auxiliary generators.
Engineers had expected service to resume this morning unless a delay was determined to be necessary.
Crews tied up the Steilacoom II in Port Townsend after completing the 7:30 p.m. sailing from Keystone on Wednesday night.
Ferry riders were advised to use the Mukilteo-Clinton and Edmonds-Kingston routes for travel between the North Olympic Peninsula and Whidbey Island.
Last week, Port Townsend-Keystone ferry service was canceled from Wednesday afternoon through Thursday because of a failure of one of the two auxiliary generators on the Steilacoom II.
The auxiliary generators are necessary to operate the vessel. They provide power for all of the vessel’s critical equipment.
After last week’s problem, crews performed preventive work and identified the need for a complete rebuild of the second auxiliary generator.
State ferries system officials said the work was scheduled to take advantage of previously scheduled tidal cancellations on the Port Townsend-Keystone route this week.
