Everett
Washington State Ferries restored standard schedules on Tuesday, ending a period of service disruptions across the Puget Sound region caused by a lack of available crew.
The agency announced on social media that only minor cancellations remained early Tuesday morning as personnel were being repositioned following Monday's difficulties. Officials expressed gratitude to passengers for their cooperation and thanked staff for their efforts.
Cancellations were issued shortly before 6 a.m. Tuesday for specific sailings. The Edmonds-Kingston route saw the 5:30 a.m. and 7 a.m. trips from Kingston and the 6:15 a.m. and 7:55 a.m. trips from Edmonds scrapped. On the Mukilteo-Clinton line, the 5:05 a.m. and 6 a.m. departures from Clinton, along with the 5:35 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. departures from Mukilteo, were called off. Regular operations were slated to resume immediately following these cancellations.
This schedule represents a significant improvement over the previous day. On Monday, the Edmonds-Kingston route was suspended entirely, while the Mukilteo-Clinton line operated with a single vessel, resulting in wait times of approximately two hours for drivers.
A Freeland resident waiting in the Mukilteo holding area on Monday afternoon for a vessel running 45 minutes behind schedule described the impact on her personal time. She stated that a medical appointment on the mainland required six hours of travel, three hours each way. She characterized the delay as a waste of time that negatively affected her work schedule.
Data from the agency covering the months of April through June indicates that these two Snohomish County routes are heavily utilized, carrying roughly two million passengers during that three-month span.
Service on other regional lines, including Seattle-Bainbridge and Port Townsend-Coupeville, was suspended Monday morning due to staffing shortages. Numerous other routes were reduced to single-boat operations, causing significant delays.
In a series of posts on X, the agency detailed that 23 engine room staff members reported sick on Monday morning. Officials stated that every employee qualified to assume those specific roles declined to fill them.
The agency explained that vessels cannot operate without these positions filled, noting that 13 of 18 ferries were out of service as a result. Officials acknowledged the disruption affecting thousands of Washington residents and expressed an expectation that employees would return to work promptly.
The agency identified the employees who called in sick and declined to cover vacancies as members of the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association, the union representing engine room personnel. In 2024, the union told The Seattle Times that its members were experiencing burnout from excessive overtime and were underpaid.
The Washington State Standard reported Monday afternoon that the union denied coordinating the sickout. The organization described the action as a frantic plea for assistance from an abused and frustrated group of skilled and committed workers.
The union issued a statement Monday afternoon regarding the use of overtime to meet minimum safety requirements, calling such practices irresponsible and noting that they court disaster. The statement, reported by the Washington State Standard, asserted that engineers are already scheduled to work 84 hours per seven-day workweek. The union maintained that engineers inevitably face exhaustion when asked to work the number of overtime hours required by the current stopgap system.
Washington State Ferries resumed normal operations on Tuesday after a service disruption caused by a staffing shortage. The Marine Engineers Beneficial Association union did not indicate whether the personnel issues would persist beyond Monday.
Governor Bob Ferguson addressed the situation on social media, first commenting on the cancellations on Monday and then posting a statement regarding the restoration of service on Tuesday morning.
"I appreciate the hard work of our Washington State Ferries staff, and look forward to continuing our partnership to improve our ferry system," the Governor's post stated.
Earlier on Monday, around 2 p.m., Ferguson announced via social media that he had met that morning with local and national leadership from the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association. He noted that the union officials discussed the difficulties their members are experiencing.
"My door remains open to discussing those issues, and I remain committed to improving staffing levels," Ferguson wrote. "That said, causing significant harm and inconvenience to the people of Washington state is not the way to address those issues. I was very direct in our meeting: My expectation is that every vessel on every route is fully operational no later than the first vessel sailing tomorrow morning."