PORT TOWNSEND – Two-boat ferry service is expected to return this weekend after the Port Townsend-Keystone route has operated with only one boat for a week.
The disruption was caused by a ferry crash at the Mukilteo landing last Friday.
“We are aiming to have two boats up and running by Saturday,” said Hadley Green, Washington State Ferries spokeswoman.
Service will resume at 6:30 a.m. Saturday, ferry officials confirmed on Thursday.
Although service will resume on Saturday, some normally scheduled runs will be canceled because of low tides.
The majority of the cancellations will be on Tuesday between 6:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m.
Other cancellations are scheduled at 6:30 a.m. and 7:15 a.m. on Wednesday, 6:30 a.m. through 10:35 a.m. on Thursday, 8 a.m. and 8:45 a.m. on Friday, 8 a.m. through 10:15 a.m. on Saturday, and 9:30 a.m. and 10:15 a.m. on Sunday, June 16.
The MV Nisqually ferry, which shares the Port Townsend-Keystone run with the MV Quinault now that the MV Klickitat is in drydock for routine maintenance, was shuffled off last Friday to the San Juan Island run to help cover for a ferry taken out of services after it clipped the pilings during a landing at Mukilteo.
That has left the route to the Quinault, cutting scheduled runs in half and causing hour-and-a-half waits at the Port Townsend and Keystone terminals.
Service on the Mukilteo-Clinton route was suspended temporarily early last Friday morning while Washington State Ferries worked to repair damage to the vehicle slip in Mukilteo caused when the MV Cathlamet landed hard and damaged a large group of pilings, called a dolphin.
The impact of the landing caused the dolphin to collapse, blocking the entrance to the landing slip.
A tug boat was used to clear the dolphin out of the way.
Because the Cathlamet had to go into the Everett shipyard for repair, several vessels were rerouted around the system to provide replacement.
To relieve demand, extra runs were added between Kingston and Edmonds.
One-boat service resumed on the Mukilteo-Clinton route the day of the crash.
The MV Evergreen State was moved from the San Juan Islands Friday afternoon to operate as the second vessel on the Mukilteo-Clinton route.
Late Friday evening, the Evergreen State was moved to the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth route, allowing the MV Issaquah to operate as the second vessel on the Mukilteo-Clinton route.
The Nisqually was rerouted from Port Townsend to the San Juan Islands to replace the Evergreen State.
The Klickitat, which normally serves the Port Townsend-Keystone route, is now receiving normal maintenance in dry dock, and the Quinault has been operating in its place.
For updates, check the Washington State Ferries Web site at www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/.
