101-year-old Sidney-Anacortes ferry will not return until 2030

The Peninsula’s century-old international Sidney-Anacortes ferry route is not expected to resume service until 2030, Sidney announced on Tuesday following an update from Washington State. That long-term shutdown would extend the ferry’s absence to a decade. Its cancellation has already prevented Sidney and Anacortes (sister cities since 1996) from celebrating the 100th anniversary of the route that began with a converted kelp trawler in 1912.

“This is difficult news to receive,” Sidney Mayor Cliff McNeil-Smith said in the announcement. He flagged that there “are certainly economic impacts for our local business community,” and said that council and staff are now looking at “the implications associated with this recent announcement” regarding the municipally-owned ferry terminal lease. That lease and operating agreement with Washington State Ferries (WFS) runs through 2031.

Like downtown Victoria’s Coho and Clipper, Sidney’s Canada-US water route was closed in early 2020 when the pandemic began. But unlike the Washington-Victoria routes, it did not return in 2021 even after US-Canada marine travel was permitted again. WFS cited border uncertainty staffing and vessel shortages as barriers in 2021, and staffing shortages in March 2022 when Sidney service was delayed until at least summer 2023.

Crewing and ship availability cited for ferry’s absences

A number of Washington ferry routes have been suspended or rolled back, though Anacortes is the only one not in any stage of resumption as of WSF’s 2022 year in review. That report cites “unprecedented staff shortages” due to COVID-19, its aging workforce, and a broader shortage of qualified mariners to crew the vessels.

BC Ferries has also cited that international shortage as part of why it has seen so many staffing-related cancellations of sailings in the past two years; Capital Daily explained that broader situation last spring.

Limited WA fleet has Sidney competing for one vessel (and losing)

Running an international route requires certain capabilities, including the Safety Of Life At Sea (SOLAS) international standard. This makes the 124-car/1,090-passenger Chelan the only WSF ferry qualified to handle Sidney service—and WSF doubts it will be able to add another SOLAS-qualified vessel until 2034. With just the Chelan, Sidney service would be interrupted any time the 1981-built Chelan has problems, needs repairs, or is pulled in to fill a gap on a higher-priority route.

Only the Chelan, seen here leaving Orcas Island for Sidney in 2007, can run the cross-border route. Photo: Jasperdo (Flickr)

Currently, the Chelan is being used entirely to prop up service on other routes. Several are still not fully ramped-up, and WSF has flagged that its overall service remains more unpredictable than it would like. Meanwhile, ridership has not rebounded and the system is relying on COVID-era government funds to maintain its current service.

The Department of Transportation (WSDOT) Feb. 2023 WSF service restoration report looks specifically at why Sidney will not resume yet.

Despite its history and significance, Sidney-Anacortes is typically the state’s most minor route. It carries 110,000 to 150,000 passengers per year through daily spring and twice daily summer service. WSF is obliged, the report says, to prioritize the essential travel of the Washington residents over international travellers—although it does note that the Sidney ferry does provide some domestic travel and delivers economic benefits to Skagit and San Juan.

These factors have placed SIdney-Anacortes at the back of the pack for service restoration in the report. The report also saw possible work-arounds as unviable.

WSF considered and rejected two options for Sidney service

1. Providing Sidney service only during the summer peak. This was rejected because the summer is popular for all routes. WSF must run a minimum of 19 of its 21 boats in the summer. Having only two spares would leave so little flexibility for repairs and absences that the Chelan would often be pulled in to fill spots on priority domestic routes. That would make the Sidney service especially unreliable for international travellers planning significant trips in advance.

2. Leasing an outside ferry. This was rejected because not only would such a ferry need to fit the relevant terminals and be built in the US (per US law), it would also require staff that WSF is already struggling to provide to domestic routes.

Route has had problems with its aging ferries

The long-running Sidney route was also having issues even before the pandemic. The service was suspended for a week in 2018 and a month in late 2019 because of issues with both of its two international vessels.

Then in early 2020, Washington State declined to fund repairs for the second and lesser of those boats: the run-down Elwha, built in 1967 and rebuilt in 1991. The 144-car Elwha had already undergone $20M in repairs in 2018. That investment was made despite it being near the end of its expected life, due to its importance to the international route as well as the Washington fleet’s overall lack of ferries.

Onboard the now-retired Elwha. Photo: Jasperdo (Flickr)

‍ Washington trying to expand and electrify fleet over next decade

The Elwha is among four vessels retired since 2016, though one has been added since then. Three more are slated to be retired by 2027, when the next new vessel is expected to arrive. As more come in, WSF will phase out older vessels (the Chelan is due to retire in 2036). Some vessels are also due for mid-career updates that will keep them out of service for the better part of a year. WSDOT’s report flagged that this mid-career maintenance is getting trickier: Although newer ferries have more life left than the 40-plus-year-olds that make up half the WSF fleet,, newer ferries’ components also reach obsolescence faster.

The state is also looking to electrify its ferries, as BC has begun doing. WFS, the largest operating ferry service in the US, is Washington’s highest-emitting state agency. Its current plans intend to both create up to five new hybrid vessels (like BC’s Island classes) and convert up to four existing Jumbo Mark II vessels. A request for proposals for the conversions went out last month. BC’s six Island classes, built in Romania, have taken two to three years from being announced and ordered to entering service.