|
Post by Kahloke on May 2, 2020 8:53:29 GMT -8
Im curious about when the jumbo's retire... 144 cars vs 188. Will the Olympics cut it? I mean even now with the Elwha retiring, its going to be replaced by a Olympic class which is smaller! The Jumbos are planned to be around until the early 2030's, but there is always the question, will they last that long? Spokane turns 50 in 2022, and Walla Walla in 2023. My impression is that they were built better than the Supers, so perhaps can last longer, but of course, there is no certainty there. As far as capacity goes, the plan for Edmonds-Kingston is to replace two 188/202 jumbos with three 144 Olympics. When that happens, and maybe now, IF that happens, is totally up in the air. The next batch of Olympics is to directly replace the Supers. Vehicle capacity is the same for both classes of vessels. Passenger capacity on the Olympics is less.
|
|
|
Post by iceberg1 on May 2, 2020 12:43:14 GMT -8
It's getting harder and harder to find spare parts for the Jumbo's propulsion systems.
|
|
|
Post by Blue Bus Fan on Aug 26, 2021 14:21:07 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by Kahloke on Aug 26, 2021 17:47:16 GMT -8
Great article on Elwha, and it's nice to see EGFleet's photo and contributions so prominently mentioned. I remember the "Elwha on the Rock" incident. I was just a kid living on Orcas at the time, but it's something everyone who lived there will never forget. Peggy was a nice lady, and she had a nice house. My mom house-sat for her once a few years later, and so I actually got to stay there for a few nights. Her house was at the end of the bay - no way a ferry was going to make it that far back, but I definitely remember it as a cool house.
|
|
|
Post by Cascadian Transport on Jun 28, 2022 17:57:45 GMT -8
In April 2019, I took what would turn out to be my penultimate ride on the Elwha, during which I recorded a walkthrough tour. The video files sat untouched on my external hard drive until yesterday, when I finally decided to revisit video editing after an over three year hiatus. I have to say, it was fun editing this video and getting back into videography, not to mention the nostalgia of virtually revisiting the boat- I know several here will disagree, but Elwha was my favorite ferry in the fleet and her decommissioning was a sad loss indeed.
|
|
|
Post by PeninsulaExplorer on Dec 17, 2022 10:19:06 GMT -8
The Elwha and Klahowya had their names and WSDOT logos on their funnel painted over within the past couple of weeks. One can imagine the Hyak has had the same treatment. Here is a shot of the Elwha in slip 3 on Bainbridge Island on the morning of December 17th. Debranded Elwha by Zach Jaquez, on Flickr
|
|
|
Post by SeahawkNERD8275 on Jan 1, 2023 8:20:46 GMT -8
When are they going to move the elwha
|
|
|
Post by Olympic Ferries on Mar 30, 2024 10:01:09 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by EGfleet on Aug 16, 2024 13:31:45 GMT -8
Well, it's official. They're off to South America for disposal.
|
|
|
Post by Brandon S on Aug 20, 2024 12:28:05 GMT -8
Well, it's official. They're off to South America for disposal.
I'm curious to know when the move will happen.
|
|
|
Post by Kahloke on Aug 20, 2024 12:38:29 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by elwharust on Aug 20, 2024 12:53:12 GMT -8
do we know the names of the tugs that are doing the deed?
|
|
|
Post by SS San Mateo on Aug 20, 2024 13:07:54 GMT -8
The Elwha and Klahowya ended up returning to Eagle Harbor. From the WSF Facebook page:
"4:35 p.m. Aug. 19 UPDATE: The departure of retired ferries Elwha and Klahowya out of Puget Sound has been postponed following a malfunction of tow equipment used by the prospective buyer. The vessels have returned to Eagle Harbor Maintenance Facility on Bainbridge Island. There is no revised tow plan at this time."
The tug (Wycliffe) broke down.
|
|
|
Post by Electric Thunderbird on Aug 20, 2024 13:10:40 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by Barnacle on Aug 28, 2024 9:33:12 GMT -8
*tweet!* False start. Five yard penalty; still first down.
|
|
|
Post by EGfleet on Aug 30, 2024 8:54:11 GMT -8
And the saga continues... Immigration agents detain crew after failed WA ferry tow Aug. 30, 2024 at 6:00 am Updated Aug. 30, 2024 at 6:00 am
By Nicholas Deshais Seattle Times staff reporter
Four mariners tasked with transporting two retired state ferries to Ecuador for scrapping became ensnared in the U.S. immigration system after failing to move the vessels.
The crew members — from Peru, Colombia and Panama — had been aboard the tugboat Wycliffe for weeks, and unable to go to shore. Local advocates say the sailors were mistreated and underpaid by their employer, Ecuadorian Nelson Armas, and were lacking necessary food and medication.
On Thursday, advocates said U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents detained the men and took them to a detention facility near the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, with plans to send them home on flights later in the day. The crew appeared to leave in a hurry, with provisions and food items scattered around the abandoned tug.
“We’re trying to help facilitate so they can be repatriated,” said Rich Shively, executive director of the Seattle Seafarers Center. “Our only concern, really, is that the crew be sent back home in as efficient a way as possible, and compensated for their time. Also, their visa status should not be damaged, so they can continue to work” in the U.S.
The mariners’ troubles began last week, after they couldn’t successfully connect the two ferries — the Elwha and Klahowya — in tandem to their tug, which was to tow the vessels south for 35 days on the open sea. Crews with Western Tugboat, a local operator assisting them, returned the ferries to Washington State Ferries’ Eagle Harbor Maintenance Facility.
“We were just going to hook up the tandem tow in Eagle Harbor, but they had a problem with the winch,” said Russ Shrewsbury, co-owner of Western Towboat.
To speed the process, Shrewsbury’s crew towed the ferries about 2 miles away from Eagle Harbor, but the Wycliffe’s crew still wasn’t prepared to take possession of the boats.
“It was time to pull the plug because we had other things to do,” Shrewsbury said.
With the boats back in the state’s hands, Armas’ contract was canceled and he lost his insurance. With no official work, the sailors’ work visas were no longer valid. On Monday, CBP agents went aboard the tug, questioned the men in Spanish and confiscated their passports.
Requests for comment from CBP were not returned. Armas was unable to be reached.
Julia Cooper, director of operations for Seattle Seafarers Center, said she’s been on the Wycliffe “half a dozen” times in the last week or so. She’s picked up food and medication for the men, including bottled water, juice, chicken, tortillas, snacks and eggs. One man told her he’d fallen and was urinating blood, but said more recently he was fine and didn’t need medical attention.
This week, Cooper was on the ship when Armas showed up.
She said called the interaction with the owner “weird,” and that he asked why the group was aboard the tug. Armas told her, she said, that he was bringing them provisions every week and provided the crew a SIM card.
“The crew was very quiet when he was there. It seemed like they couldn’t speak up,” Cooper said.
Cyrus Donato, the Puget Sound inspector for the International Transport Workers’ Federation, said he’s had safety concerns about Armas and the vessel since October 2023. The state ferries, he said, were “being towed by exploitative labor practices.”
He blamed Armas for what he described as the poor condition of the boat and lack of pay for mariners, but also said the U.S. Coast Guard and state ferry system bore responsibility for lax regulations and oversight.
“This person was essentially allowed to run around the regulations,” Donato said. “This vessel had a ‘do not sail’ order from the Coast Guard for nine months, and then they rescinded it.”
Multiple calls to the Coast Guard seeking comment were unanswered.
Dana Warr, a ferry system spokesperson, said the agency was unaware of the mariners’ situation and was not responsible.
The state ferry system “was not part of hiring the crew, nor should we have been,” Warr said in an email. “WSF has, as always, followed every state procurement law regarding surplus state property in selling these vessels that have been decommissioned.”
The Elwha and Klahowya ferries, out of commission since 2020 and 2017, respectively, were sold to Armas for $100,000 each. The ferry system previously said the sale alleviates costs and staffing concerns associated with storing and moving the old ferries around shipyard facilities.
Donato, with the international union, said a similar situation happened in 2017, when 12 sailors from Mexico and Panama were stranded without pay for months on two vessels in Lake Union, the Nakolo and Pacific Challenger, that were not affiliated with the ferry system.
People with Donato’s group helped raise money for the stranded mariners and finally figured out who owned the old vessels. With help from lawyers from the Mexican Consulate, Donato’s organization secured nearly $100,000 in back wages for the men. A local immigration attorney worked for free to help get the men home.
In the case of the Wycliffe’s crew, Donato said he lost contact with them Thursday, though in the afternoon he’d heard from a source at CBP that Armas had come to the CBP field office near Sea-Tac and paid the crew “additional cash” and that the crew was “all good.”
Still, he’s not pleased with how they got there.
“I don’t know what kind of due diligence process Washington State Ferries uses, selling it to highest bidder. Or lowest bidder,” he said. “But it isn’t appropriate.”
|
|
|
MV Elwha
Aug 31, 2024 14:06:29 GMT -8
via mobile
Post by wanderlust90 on Aug 31, 2024 14:06:29 GMT -8
This is all quite fitting given the Elwha’s eventful history. Of course she wasn’t going to slip away without a bit of drama!
|
|
|
Post by SS San Mateo on Sept 5, 2024 14:19:19 GMT -8
|
|