UPDATE | Ferry Wenatchee returns to Bainbridge route

Published 3:55 pm Friday, October 7, 2016

The M/V Wenatchee will return to the Bainbridge Island-Seattle ferry route with the 6:30 p.m. Friday departure from Bainbridge.

Washington State Ferries made the announcement just after 3:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 7.

WSF said repairs had been made ahead of schedule and the vessel would be put back into service. Ferry officials had earlier said the Wenatchee would be out of service for as long as a week.

The Wenatchee was pulled from the route Thursday afternoon after it struck the dock in Winslow.

The No. 1 end of the ferry was damaged after the boat hit the dock at a speed of approximately 2.3 miles per hour. The crash left a large dent on the end of the boat, but no one aboard the vessel was injured.

WSF said the ferry’s propulsion drive control computer went down as the boat was approaching the dock.

Multiple sailings were canceled between Bainbridge and Seattle, and travelers faced long waits on both ends of the route, as well as on the alternative route on the Kingston-Edmonds run.

WSF brought in the M/V Tillikum to restore two-boat service to the Bainbridge route, the busiest in the ferry system, late Thursday.