Washington State Ferries Update

Sept. 19, 2023 The Spokesman-Review

Another WA ferry out for at least a month, forcing fleet shuffle

“The ferry Walla Walla, which had been sailing between Seattle and Bremerton, will be out of service for at least four weeks as crews repair a propeller that broke near Rich Passage last week.”

“Meantime, the state has begun converting its largest Jumbo Mark II boats to hybrid-electric. When the Wenatchee returns in fall of 2024, the Tacoma will be pulled from service followed by the Puyallup in 2025.”

Hybrid-electric?

The companies with fleets of merchant ships serving the ports of Seattle and Tacoma are moving cargo all over the world every day. Are they converting to hybrid-electric?

How about the companies that move cargo on an ongoing basis from Seattle to Alaska. Are they converting to hybrid-electric? How about the trucking companies that move shipments of cargo from the port of Tacoma to Denver. Are they converting to hybrid-electric?

Love to see the press interview the owners of these companies to learn more.

The mainstream press provides news coverage that favors government agencies, departments and policies.

The press release style of news reporting means that a statement is prepared by whatever agency was involved in the latest policy update, drug bust/federal grant money award, etc.

Newspeople post this statement as is.

A 5th grade book report would require more in the way of asking questions.

Love to see the mainstream press get out and interview people on various sides of any issue.

Nice example here –

0:41 in the video below:

If ethanol made a lot of sense we wouldn’t have to subsidize it or mandate its consumption:

I want to know what various people are thinking on various issues.

Here at Oak Bay Starfish, we have been posting Re: WA State Ferries for years. A favorite story was the auto tollbooth upgrade at Mukilteo. Here is what we found on the web:

Photo source/credit: Washington State Ferries