WSF ANNOUNCEMENT: Uptick in Cancelations of inter-island likely over next few weeks – Robust alerting promised

Monday, October 7, 2024 at 9:55 a.m.
From the SanJuans.Today Newsroom

Over the weekend, senior management with Washington State Ferries informed state legislators from Washington’s 40th District and members of the San Juans’ Ferry Advisory Committee that an uptick in canceled sailings of the inter-island route, due to crewing shortages, is “likely” over the next “few weeks.”

After a very high number of canceled sailings from May to August of this year, the number of cancellations in the San Juans has been sharply reduced.

Following is the WSF statement directed to local leaders and FAC members, and later shared with news media and bloggers:

Over the next few weeks, we have a number of unfilled positions on one of the Inter-island vessel’s watches. We’ve worked hard to fill them, with some success, and will continue to do so, but it’s likely there will be sailings canceled due to a lack of crewing.  

A cross-departmental team just finished discussing service options when the Interisland ties up. With a focus on students traveling to/from Friday Harbor and allowing them to travel without going through Anacortes, we’ve developed a series of alternate schedules, using mainland boats, to move interisland customers. Because the watch covers a wide part of the day, the coverage plan is complicated, based on available vessels, so we’re not sharing it publicly.  We’ll encourage San Juan Island’s customers to follow passenger alerts closely. 

We obviously know the frustration and consternation this will cause San Juan Islands customers who rely on our service for travel – essential and non. We will continue efforts to crew every watch and when we can’t, we’ll communicate robustly, so passengers can plan successfully.