(SEATTLE) — A Washington State Ferries (WSF) captain lost situational awareness before his vessel hit a docking dolphin near a terminal in Puget Sound while cruising at about 15 knots, according to a WSF report.
The ferry Cathlamet was en route from the Vashon Island Terminal to the Fauntleroy Terminal when the allision occurred at 8:13 a.m. on July 28. One car on the ferry was damaged and one passenger suffered minor injuries. The incident caused an estimated $7.7 million in damage to Cathlamet and the infrastructure at the Fauntleroy Terminal.
“Our investigation found that human error and a failure to follow existing procedures led to the incident,” WSF said in a weekly bulletin. “The captain resigned the next day and has not provided an explanation as to what happened. We sent a safety notice reinforcing landing procedures immediately following the event. As a result of the internal investigation, additional policies and training are under development.”
In addition, “black box” data recorders have been installed on Cathlamet and will become standard equipment on all WSF vessels, the operator said. “We remain in constant contact with federal investigators and we may administer further changes based on Coast Guard recommendations,” according to the agency.
The Coast Guard, the National Transportation Safety Board and WSF determined that the 328-foot Cathlamet did not have any mechanical or navigation malfunctions before the incident. The captain, whose name is redacted in the report, passed a drug and alcohol test after the allision.
The complete report is available here.
