The M/V Wenatchee, the first hybrid-electric vessel on the Washington State Ferries fleet, has been pulled from service on the Seattle-Bainbridge Island route due to mechanical issues that caused a power outage during a sailing Aug. 15.

When pulling into Coleman Dock, two of Wenatchee’s four drive motors tripped offline, causing the ferry to temporarily lose power, before the motors turned back on about a minute later, WSF spokesperson Dana Warr said.

“The WSF Eagle Harbor maintenance and electrification team continues to explore the causes of (the) mechanical failure as the vessel docked in Seattle. When the review is complete, the issue is addressed, and we’re confident it can be returned to safe service, we will do so,” Warr said.

WSF maintenance teams determined that the control system communication wires are creating intermittent instability, which causes drive motors to go offline, he said.

“These issues are difficult to isolate as they may only happen at certain speeds or in certain operating conditions,” Warr said. “While unexpected, issues like this are a normal part of a vessel commissioning and our teams are working hard to resolve the issue so we can perform sea trials, which when successful, will allow the vessel to return to service.”

Despite Wenatchee’s removal from service, Warr said the disruption to passengers was limited to those traveling on the cancelled sailings. WSF has swapped another vessel to maintain two-boat service on the Seattle/ Bainbridge route.

Since returning to full-time service July 24, Wenatchee has had six sailings cancelled due to mechanical issues with two cancellations July 29, Aug. 2, and Aug. 15, respectively. Between July 18 and Aug. 18, Wenatchee completed 244 sailings and carried 71,222 passengers, Warr said.

WSF reported for the week of Aug. 11-17, they completed 97.9% of sailings out of 3,124 scheduled sailings. WSF reported 70 cancellations, with 31 due to crewing, 22 for schedule resets, 16 due to vessel related issues, and one miscellaneous.