Washington State Ferries canceled sailings and suspended service on several routes Oct. 5 after 23 engine room employees called in sick and qualified relief workers declined to fill the vacancies, the agency said.
Thirteen of the system’s 18 operating vessels were out of service Monday morning, disrupting travel across Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands. WSF said the employees who called out were members of the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association (MEBA), which represents its engine room workers.
The agency was investigating the callouts and its difficulty filling the positions. The cause of the staffing shortage had not been established Monday morning.
“We understand how disruptive this is to thousands of Washingtonians,” WSF said in the post. “We expect our employees to return to work as soon as possible.”
WSF began warning passengers Sunday night that a lack of qualified crew could reduce or suspend service on several routes the following morning. Dispatchers continued seeking replacements as cancellations spread through the system.
The agency said it staffs vessels to U.S. Coast Guard-required levels at the beginning of each service day. When an employee calls in sick, dispatchers seek a qualified replacement. If the position remains vacant, the vessel cannot sail.
“Washington State Ferries employees, like many workers, earn sick leave, and we honor employees’ use of that leave when they are unable to work,” the agency said in a statement provided to FOX 13 Seattle.
In its social media post, WSF also highlighted compensation for staff chief engineers, citing a base salary of $157,000 and potential annual earnings exceeding $350,000 with overtime. The agency said benefits include annual sick and vacation leave and retirement accrual. Those figures apply to staff chief engineers, rather than all engine room employees.
The Seattle-Bainbridge Island route stopped operating after the 5:30 a.m. departure from Seattle, while Edmonds-Kingston service ended after the 7:10 a.m. sailing from Edmonds. The Fauntleroy-Vashon Island-Southworth route also suspended service Monday morning, according to The Seattle Times.
Seattle-Bremerton and Mukilteo-Clinton were reduced to one-boat service. The Chimacum was sidelined on the Bremerton route, and all second-vessel sailings were canceled between Mukilteo and Clinton. The Kennewick was taken out of service for the day on the Port Townsend-Coupeville route.
In the San Juan Islands, the Chelan and Yakima were out of service, leaving the Samish operating an all-stops schedule between Anacortes, Lopez, Shaw, Orcas and Friday Harbor. WSF assigned the interisland ferry Tillikum to assist with Anacortes-San Juan Islands traffic Monday morning, with interisland service scheduled to resume at 2:30 p.m. New reservations and reservation changes were blocked for the day, and no-show fees were waived.
Kitsap Transit added two morning Southworth fast ferry sailings to help accommodate displaced passengers, the Seattle Times reported.
The disruptions follow longstanding concerns about engine room staffing, according to the Seattle Times. In 2024, MEBA representatives told the news agency that extensive overtime during staffing shortages had contributed to burnout. The union was seeking pay parity with deck employees ahead of negotiations for contracts covering July 2025 through June 2027.
Gov. Bob Ferguson said Monday morning that he was speaking with ferry system leadership about the disruptions.
WSF advised passengers to check route alerts and service updates before traveling.
