MV Walla Walla

The MV Walla Walla (Motor Vessel Walla Walla) is a Jumbo-class ferry operated by Washington State Ferries.

The MV Walla Walla in Rich Passage
History
NameWalla Walla
OwnerWSDOT
OperatorWashington State Ferries
Port of registrySeattle, Washington, US
RouteBremerton–Seattle
BuilderTodd Shipyard, Seattle
Completed
  • 1972
  • Refurbished: 2005[1]
In service1972
Identification
StatusIn service
General characteristics
Class and typeJumbo-class auto/passenger ferry
Tonnage
  • 3,246 GT
  • 1,198 NT
Displacement4,860 long tons (4,940 t)
Length440 ft (134 m)
Beam87 ft (27 m)
Draft18 ft (5 m)
Decks4
Deck clearance15 ft 6 in (4.7 m)
Installed powerTotal 11,500 hp (8,600 kW) from 4 x diesel-electric engines
Propulsiondiesel electric (DC)
Speed18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Capacity
  • 2,000 passengers
  • 188 vehicles (max 60 commercial)[2]
The MV Walla Walla, underway from Edmonds to Kingston

History

The Walla Walla was originally assigned to the San Juan Islands, however in its first year of service it was reassigned to the Seattle-Bainbridge route for which ridership better aligned with the high capacity of the Jumbo-class vessels.

After being replaced on the Seattle–Winslow route by a Jumbo Mark-II-class ferry, the ship began serving as a fill-in vessel for whenever one of the larger ferries goes into scheduled maintenance periods; usually she can be found on either the Seattle–Bremerton or Edmonds–Kingston routes.[1] Occasionally the Walla Walla will still end up filling in on the Seattle–Bainbridge Island run where it spent its early years. In late July 2014, the Jumbo Mark-II-class ferry, MV Wenatchee sailed to Vancouver, British Columbia for repairs. Since Washington State Ferries had no large backup vessels, the Walla Walla once again found herself on her old run, the Seattle–Winslow route. As a result, she was the other vessel on the route on the day the MV Tacoma suffered her massive electrical failure.

November 2012 incident

In early November 2012, during routine maintenance, one of the ship's four drive motors was damaged and failed after it overheated. The ferry was removed from service while a replacement was installed. WSDOT announced that if the damaged motor could be replaced with a spare already in its warehouse, the ferry could be back into service within several months.[3][4] The spare motor was refurbished by General Electric in Los Angeles and then installed at Vigor Shipyards.[5] The Walla Walla returned to service in April 2013.[5]

April 2023 grounding

At approximately 4:30 p.m. on April 15, 2023, the ferry ran aground on a Bainbridge Island beach after a generator failure while transiting Rich Passage during a Bremerton–Seattle run. No injuries or hull damage were reported among the 596 passengers and 15 crew members.[6] All passengers were evacuated onto Kitsap Fast Ferries and returned to Bremerton within a few hours.[7] The Walla Walla was towed by tugboats back to Bremerton for inspections and to unload the 200 vehicles left onboard until the following morning.[8]

A subsequent investigation by Washington State Ferries and the U.S. Coast Guard determined that contaminated fuel had clogged filters leading into the boat's generators and caused them to shut down. The onboard backup generator also failed and the crew were unable to start a third generator, leaving the vessel without power. Walla Walla sustained a bent propeller and other minor damage and is expected to reenter service.[9]

References
  1. The Walla Walla, evergreenfleet.com
  2. MV Walla Walla vessel info from WSDOT
  3. Walla Walla ferry out of service indefinitely – Seattle Times, retrieved November 9, 2012
  4. Electrical Accident Puts Walla Walla Ferry Out Of Service – KGMI, retrieved November 12, 2012
  5. Frame, Susannah (March 11, 2013). "Report: Human error was cause of ferry maintenance accident". King5.com. Archived from the original on March 13, 2013.
  6. Afshar, Paradise; Riess, Rebekah; Sottile, Zoe (April 16, 2023). "Passenger ferry carrying almost 600 people runs aground in Washington". CNN. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  7. Girgis, Lauren; Reicher, Mike; Kroman, David (April 15, 2023). "WA ferry runs aground on Bainbridge Island after losing power". The Seattle Times. Retrieved April 16, 2023.
  8. Kroman, David (April 16, 2023). "Passengers retrieve cars from WA ferry that ran aground on Bainbridge Island". The Seattle Times. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  9. Pilling, Nathan (May 4, 2023). "Washington State Ferries: Contaminated fuel led to Walla Walla grounding". Kitsap Sun. Retrieved May 5, 2023.


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