Name MV Puyallup Completed 1999 Builder Vigor Shipyards | Owner WSDOT Length 140 m | |
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Operator Washington State Ferries Route Edmonds-Kingston or Seattle-Bainbridge Island Identification MMSI=*366759130
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Callsign=WCY7938 | ||
MV Puyallup is a Jumbo Mark II Class ferry operated by Washington State Ferries. This ferry, along with her two sisters, are the largest in the fleet. The Puyallup is normally assigned to the Edmonds-Kingston route, although it is often reassigned to the Seattle-Bainbridge Island route whenever either of its sisters assigned to that route are out of service. The Puyallup has been at the Bainbridge Route for over a year while the M/V Tacoma underwent maintenance. The vessel returned to Edmonds- Kingston where her extra capacity was missed.
While Puyallup spent three weeks in dry dock in November 2003, the MV Chelan and MV Quinault served the Edmonds-Kingston route. In mid-2008, Puyallup was sent out of service for repainting and to have a new security system installed. She returned to service in January 2009. In the winter of 2013 she was hauled and her hull was stripped down to steel for a thorough inspection and scheduled maintenance. She was also fitted with new five bladed propellers as an experiment to reduce vibration and increase efficiency.
Incidents
There have been a few incidents in which passengers aboard Puyallup have disappeared. On 15 April 2001, a man disappeared while en route from Seattle to Bainbridge Island. Authorities suspected he fell overboard when the ship turned to enter Eagle Harbor while he was sitting on a railing. On 13 January 2009, a woman disappeared while the ferry was en route from Seattle to Bainbridge Island. Her husband found what he believed to be a suicide note.