Name MV Wenatchee Cost $80 million Length 140 m | Owner WSDOT Completed 1998 Builder Vigor Shipyards | |
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Operator Washington State Ferries Route Seattle-Bainbridge Island | ||
The MV Wenatchee is a Jumbo Mark II Class ferry operated by Washington State Ferries. Launched in 1998, she was the second in her class in the fleet following the MV Tacoma.
Almost without exception since being launched, she has served the Seattle/Bainbridge Island route.
As with most of the ferries in the system, she shares the name of a city in Washington state.
Wenatchee has been involved in a couple of notable incidents. In 2000, during a particularly low tide, she touched bottom while rounding Tyee Shoal at the entrance of Bainbridge Island's Eagle Harbor, resulting in minor keel and propeller damage. On August 30, 2009, she had a collision with the #3 slip at Pier 52 in Seattle. There was heavy fog at the time and the vessel and slip were out of service for four days.
The Wenatchee and its older sister ship, the MV Tacoma, suffered from excessive vibration during their early period of operation, until it was repaired during routine maintenance in 1999. The issue was addressed in the later Jumbo Mark II ferry, the MV Puyallup, before it launched.