The Annapolis-Bremerton foot ferry has been suspended indefinitely, and Kitsap Transit says it simply doesn’t have enough working vessels to run the route. The disruption started on Oct. 22, when the M/V Waterman was pulled from service over mechanical issues, and the agency now says the damage runs deeper than a routine repair.
According to ktheadways.com, the Annapolis/Bremerton foot ferry service remains suspended indefinitely due to a shortage of operating vessels. As Kitsap Sun reported, Kitsap Transit canceled all Annapolis-Bremerton sailings until further notice due to mechanical issues, suspending the route because too few foot ferries were operating between Bremerton and South Kitsap. The agency runs two commuter boat routes across Sinclair Inlet, serving the Port Orchard Marina and the Annapolis dock, which sits a few miles east of downtown Port Orchard.
A Battery Problem With No Easy Fix
The Waterman relies on batteries to power its electric motors, and Kitsap Transit sent those batteries out for repair after the failure. The repair facility determined the battery was damaged beyond repair, and the battery’s manufacturer has exited the market, with no other marine battery meeting the software and hardware requirements of the propulsion system, per the same report from ktheadways.com. In a video, Kitsap Transit Marine Services Director Nick Zylstra said the Waterman cannot sail without its batteries and that the failure could not be fixed, leaving the vessel out of service for the foreseeable future.
The Waterman, a 70-foot hybrid-electric passenger catamaran that can carry up to 150 passengers, entered service in 2019 as the first commercial hybrid diesel-electric ferry in Puget Sound, according to Glosten, the vessel’s designer. Kitsap Transit is now in discussion with Glosten about a path forward for the boat while also looking for commercial passenger vessels to charter that meet its operating requirements, the agency said in the same ktheadways.com update.
Leaning on an Aging Backup
With the Waterman sidelined, Kitsap Transit’s other backup option, the Carlisle II, has its own complications. The nearly 110-year-old historic vessel is currently out of service for a scheduled inspection, required by the U.S. Coast Guard every two years. The agency is working with a shipyard to expedite repairs and maintenance on the Carlisle II so it can operate service in December, the report notes…