Length 77 ft (23.5 m) Draft 5 ft (1.5 m) Installed power 2 x 1400 HP | Beam 29 ft (8.8 m) Decks 2 | |
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Type Catamaran passenger ferry | ||
The Melissa Ann is a 77-foot (23 m), 172 passenger passenger-only ferry owned by Four Seasons Marine and operated by the King County Ferry District as part of the King County Water Taxi fleet.
Contents
History
Melissa Ann was built in 1988 along with her sister Rachel Marie at Nichols Boat Builders in Freeland, Washington for the United States Army. She was later sold to Four Seasons Marie which leased the vessel for various Passenger-Only ferry services, including to Kitsap Transit for a Passenger-Only ferry route between Seattle and Bremerton and to the city of Honolulu for a Passenger-Only ferry route on Oahu.
From October 2009 and on, she was operated by the King County Ferry District on the Downtown Seattle to Vashon Island route as part of the King County Water Taxi. The ferry now plies the water of Puget Sound between Seattle and Vashon six times daily carrying an average of 400 passengers each way everyday.
Technical information
The Melissa Ann has a catamaran hull and uses two 1,400 horsepower propulsion engines to cruise at an average speed of 28 knots. The vessel also is equipped with two radar systems, a GPS plotter, a depth sounder, and an automated information system transponder.