Retired WSF Captain and FAC Member Raises Alarm Over Aging Fleet

Representing Lopez Island on the County's Ferry Advisory Committee for many years, retired WSF captain Ken Burtness is raising the alarm over the ferry system's aging fleet and slow release of additional funds for new boats. From last year's legislative session, the state legislature allocated funds for up to three new vessels (to be commissioned in 2030, 2031, and 2032) and the contract has been awarded to Eastern Shipyards in Florida. By the end of that time, according to WSF's data, four to five vessels will have reached or passed their retirement age (looking at you dear Tillikum!), with six more over the decade following.

This past legislative session, Gov. Ferguson requested $1.5 billion to fund three additional vessels and maintenance to extend the working life of existing ones, but the funds were not allocated by the legislature. Each new vessel costs approximately $330,000,000. The 18 new vessels being built for BC Ferries are cheaper as they are built overseas, which is prohibited for US operators by the Jones Act. As we know, aging vessels will break down more frequently and finding replacement parts gets more and more difficult, impacting reliability.

Read more about this and watch an interview with Ken at CNL3: "Retired WSF Captain: ‘In 10 years time, WSF will be crippled’ by a lack of vessels". This is all in the context of numerous areas of infrastructure that need significant maintenance, repair, and replacement: "Guest Opinion | When growth ends and maintenance begins" (The Orcasonian).