WA: Kitsap's Fast Ferry is Headed for Drydock. Will There be a Replacement?
Feb. 14, 2018
Last summer Kitsap Transit launched a fast ferry service with a single vessel. The Rich Passage I was the only low-wake boat it had to satisfy shore-erosion concerns along the passage from Bremerton to Seattle.
Source KUOW
Last summer Kitsap Transit launched a fast ferry service with a single vessel. The Rich Passage I was the only low-wake boat it had to satisfy shore-erosion concerns along the passage from Bremerton to Seattle.
Since then, the Rich Passage I has missed 128 sailings, mostly because of mechanical failures. And though the vessel has been reliable since last October, Kitsap Transit’s problems aren’t over yet: In just over a month the vessel is due in drydock for the complete replacement of its engines.
It’s another challenging moment for a fast ferry service that was launched with excitement back in July. There is a state ferry to Bremerton but it takes a full hour, and Bremerton’s economy has languished as the rest of the Puget Sound region explodes with growth.
