M/V Samish Open House

Looking up at the wheelhouse of the newest Washington State Ferry – Tim Dustrude photo

The new 144 car Olympic Class Washington State Ferry M/V Samish had its Open House and Christening Ceremony on Wednesday. Quite a crowd showed up including our 3 County Council members Jamie Stephens, Bob Jarman and Rick Hughes; Friday Harbor Town Administrator Duncan Wilson; Anacortes Mayor Laurie Gere; President and CEO of Vigor Industrial, Frank Foti (builder of the ferry); various WSF personnel; and Washington State First Lady, Trudi Inslee who had the most fun today in smashing a bottle of champagne to christen the vessel. Representatives from the Samish Indian Nation were also there to say a prayer blessing for the new boat and sing a welcoming song in their native language.

Click the link for more photos and to see some specifications of the new boat…

M/V Samish by the numbers 

• Year built: 2015
• Passenger capacity: 1,500 people
• Vehicle capacity: 144 vehicles
• Auto deck clearance height: 16 feet
• Number of side-by-side motorhomes: 3 (wider vehicle lanes in the main tunnel of the auto deck will fit three tall, oversize vehicles. Most ferries fit only 2 oversize vehicles side-by-side.)
• Length of the ferry: 362 feet, 3 inches long
• Beam: (width of the ferry): 83 feet, 2 inches wide
• Draft: (how deep the ferry’s hull sits in the water): 18 feet deep at full capacity
• Diesel engines: 2
• Horsepower: 6,000
• Speed: 17 knots (19.56 mph)
• Elevators: 2, both are ADA accessible
• Width of passenger stairwells: 48 inches wide with a gentler slope, the widest stairwells in the fleet. Wide stairwells make it easier to maneuver wheelchairs during an emergency.
• Electrical outlets available to passengers: 60 double outlets, one every other booth. There are more outlets on the Olympic Class vessels than all other ferries, except for the 202-car Jumbo Mark II Class ferries.
• Emergency inflatable evacuation slides: 4 (All evacuation slides are located in the passenger cabin. Each slide connects to two, 192-passenger life rafts for 100 percent evacuation). The only other ferries with this system are the Kwa-di Tabil vessels.

Click any image below to see a larger version. (and then click left/right side of large image or use left/right arrow keys to see others)
All images by Tim Dustrude, San Juan Update.

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