Owner WSDOT Completed 1967,rebuilt in 1991 Length 116 m | Christened December 16, 1967 Launched 16 December 1967 | |
 | ||
Port of registry Anacortes, Washington, USA Route Anacortes - San Juan Islands - Sidney BC | ||
Washington ferry mv elwha
MV Elwha is a Super-class ferry in the Washington State Ferry System. The Elwha was launched on December 16, 1967 in San Diego, and was originally built for the Seattle–Bainbridge Island route where it ran until being displaced by the Jumbo class ferries in the early 1970s. In the early 1980s, it was reassigned to the San Juan Islands where it has remained ever since.
Contents
Elwha is usually working the Anacortes-San Juan Islands route, and is one of only two ferries in the system certified for international sailings because she meets certain Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) standards. This allows Elwha to make the crossing between the United States and Canada. The only other vessel in the system with this certification is Chelan.
Accidents and incidents
On October 2, 1983, the Elwha ran aground in Grindstone Harbor, near Orcas Island, on a submerged reef while carrying 100 passengers. The collision was initially blamed on the failure of a steering component, but was later found to have been caused by Captain Billy Fittro going off-course to give a visitor a view of her waterfront home. The captain resigned in lieu of being discharged a few days after the incident; ferry chief Nick Tracey was fired the following month, after failing to report captain Fittro's past negligence.. The collision caused $250,000 in damage and forced the ferry out of service for several weeks. The rock was later named "Elwha Rock" in 1989 after the ferry; the incident also inspired the song "Elwha on the Rocks", performed by the Island City Jazz Band.
On April 7, 2006, one of Elwha's two propulsion drive motors suffered a catastrophic failure. The ferry did not reenter service until August 2007.
The Elwha was removed from service on July 10, 2015, due to necessary repairs to its drive motors. The Kitsap was pulled from Bremerton and sailed in the Elwha's #5 position for the remainder of the summer sailing season. After having her drive motor repaired for the entirety of the summer and early fall, the Elwha made her return to the Sidney route on November 3, 2015.
