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Each January, there is a special edition recapping the previous year. View the 2024 Year in Review (PDF 670KB).

Here is the latest edition of the WSF Weekly Update:

May 22, 2025

A message from Steve

It's National Maritime Day. Today we recognize and celebrate mariners’ important work. They help move people and goods safely and efficiently. They connect communities and help support businesses. Here in Western Washington, the maritime industry is deeply rooted in our identity. We’re proud to carry that legacy forward as the largest employer of mariners in the region. 

Our workforce includes vessel crew members, terminal staff, tradespeople at Eagle Harbor, warehouse crews and the many administrative professionals who support our operations around the clock. Many of our employees are trained in life-saving skills, making them an essential safety element of our local maritime industry. Often, we’re the Coast Guard’s first call when there is an emergency. We wouldn’t function without the expertise, commitment and resilience of our dedicated mariners. I extend my deepest thanks to all my colleagues – and to maritime workers everywhere – for the critical work you do every day.

Memorial Day weekend ferry travel

National Maritime Day kicks off a busy five days for us. We expect more than 300,000 riders today through Monday, May 26. People boarding a ferry in a vehicle for Memorial Day weekend should plan for long waits. To avoid the rush, we have several holiday travel tips, like sailing early in the morning or late at night, when wait times are much shorter. There is plenty of walk-on capacity on all our sailings with minimal to no wait. Holiday sailings are marked on the sailing schedules for each route.

Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start of our busy season. As announced earlier this month, more sailings will return to three routes just in time for our peak travel surge:

• Seattle/Bremerton will return to its two-boat schedule starting Sunday, June 15.
• Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth “Triangle” will resume a three-boat schedule daily beginning Monday, June 30.
• A second vessel will operate at Port Townsend/Coupeville every Friday through Monday from July 4 through the end of the route’s shoulder season on Oct. 13.

Our updated Service Contingency Plan (PDF 2.4MB) has more details about service restoration and how we plan to respond if a boat becomes unavailable.

One online community meeting done, one more to go

Thanks to the more than 100 people who joined us yesterday for our first of two online community meetings ahead of our busy summer travel season. We started with a short presentation on topics like service plans, new vessels and upcoming projects. Then our team answered questions from the audience. The second meeting is at 6 p.m. tonight, May 22. It will cover the same topics. You must register in advance to attend. We’ll post recordings of both meetings on our community participation page tomorrow, May 23.

Wenatchee hits the water, returns to service soon

I know a lot of you noticed… Wenatchee was out on sea trials this week. This is an exciting step toward bringing it back into service as North America’s largest hybrid-electric passenger ferry. A dedicated team of experts have given Wenatchee a big upgrade. They added a new propulsion system, modern ship controls, hundreds of batteries and a lot of new cables. They also did preservation work, like new paint, fixing seats and deep cleaning. This work is part of a bigger plan to modernize our aging fleet. It will help make our service more reliable and more sustainable for years to come. Check out our blog to learn more about the work behind the scenes – and what’s next for Wenatchee.

Walla Walla crew rescues kayaker in Rich Passage

All our vessel employees are trained and ready to respond to all types of emergencies on the water. On Sunday afternoon on the Bremerton side of Rich Passage, the crew working aboard Walla Walla put their training into action. A passenger reported seeing a kayaker in distress and out of their kayak. The crew quickly launched a rescue boat and reached the person, who was swimming toward shore. They brought the kayaker safely to land, where the person said they didn’t need more help. Shout out to the Walla Walla crew – and all our employees who watch over the waters of the Salish Sea every day.

New laws chart course for fair pay, maritime training

On Saturday, I joined Gov. Bob Ferguson as he signed House Bill 1264 into law. This is a big win for many of my coworkers. The bill calls for a comprehensive salary study to make sure our union workers get fair pay for the important work they do. It will compare wages and look at similar maritime jobs in our region and across the country. This will help close pay gaps and make it easier to hire and keep experienced mariners. And last week, the governor signed House Bill 1167, which supports our ongoing workforce development efforts. It directs the Statewide Career and Technical Education Task Force to develop recommendations for pathways to U.S. Coast Guard credentials. Together, these bills support fair pay and better training. That means fewer crew shortages, fewer cancellations and safer, more reliable ferry service. I’ll keep fighting for fair pay and benefits for our workforce and am thankful for the governor’s strong support.

A friendly reminder for shrimpers

Yesterday was the first day of the recreational spot shrimp season in many areas of the Salish Sea. This is a good time to remind shrimpers to be aware of navigational routes. Fishing and shellfishing gear – like shrimp pots and lines – can cause serious and expensive damage to our ferries. A Department of Fish and Wildlife proposed rule would prohibit commercial or recreational crabbing, shrimping and fishing with purse seine or gillnets near our terminals. If approved, this rule could start during the 2025 season. Refer to the WDFW emergency fishing rules webpage for updates.

Sailing stats for week of May 12-18

For the week of May 12-18, we completed 99.5% of our 2,769 scheduled sailings. This figure is separate from on-time performance. Of the 15 cancellations, eight were due to tidal currents, three for schedule resets (when a boat is so far behind schedule, we cancel a sailing to get it back on schedule, providing predictability for customers), two because of crewing and two due to weather. 

Customer kudos

“Whenever I have had to phone to cancel or change a reservation, I get some very nice and patient people to help me with whatever I need. I appreciate this service and their helpfulness and patience to help me solve any problems that might arise.”

Steve Nevey
WSDOT Deputy Secretary for Washington State Ferries