Ferry system to add enough life rafts for all passengers

SEATTLE — As a rescue slide and raft deployed off the state ferry Salish Monday, it was a reminder of the worst case scenarios that could cause passengers to evacuate.

Monday's training was the first of its kind in six years, which comes as the state takes a new approach to life rafts.

Washington's newest ferries have life raft space for everyone aboard, but those built before about 2000 do not.

That is about to change.

"We'll be adding life rafts to the vessels that don't have 100 percent life raft capacity now," said Matt Von Ruden, who heads vessel engineering and maintenance for Washington State Ferries.

He said the state will need to spend nearly $5 million over the next two and a half years to buy 70 new life rafts.

"Each vessel will be an entity unto itself," Von Ruden said.

That means ferries won't need to rely on other vessels to pick up passengers in an emergency.

The lesson of not having enough life boats goes back to the Titanic. But Washington State Ferries don't run in the ocean, and there are usually other ferries around.

So for years, the U.S. Coast Guard allowed the state to have fewer life rafts.

"We've arrived at this point where we felt it was necessary to change the plan," said Lt. Commander John Fu of the Coast Guard.

Fu cited accidents on the Staten Island ferry, the 2014 power loss on the ferry Tacoma, and an overwhelmed ferry system on the day of the Seahawks Super Bowl parade as reasons to require more life rafts.

"That's a pretty radical change from what we have in place and the Coast Guard's been great working with us to implement the timeline," Von Ruden said.

It will take time to have all the new life rafts manufactured, and the ferry system will need to seek supplemental money from the legislature.

The change means each ferry won't be able to carry as many passengers.

The ferry system says that will affect only a handful of sailings each year, and that capacity will improve on runs where it's now limited when there's no other ferry around to help with an evacuation.

Cox Media Group