MV Chelan
 MV Chelan in the San Juan Islands | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name: | MV Chelan |
| Owner: | WSDOT |
| Operator: | Washington State Ferries |
| Port of registry: |
Seattle, Washington,  United States |
| Route: | Summer: Anacortes-Sidney, BC; Off-Season: Varies |
| Builder: | Marine Power and Equipment, Seattle |
| Completed: |
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| Identification: |
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| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Issaquah 130 Class auto/passenger ferry |
| Length: | 328 ft (100.0 m) |
| Beam: | 78 ft 8 in (24.0 m) |
| Draft: | 15 ft 6 in (4.7 m) |
| Decks: | 2 auto decks/1 passenger deck |
| Deck clearance: | 15 ft 6 in (4.7 m) |
| Installed power: | Total 5,000 hp from 2 diesel engines |
| Speed: | 16 kn (30 km/h; 18 mph) |
| Capacity: |
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The MV Chelan is an Issaquah 130 Class ferry operated by Washington State Ferries.
History
The Chelan was built in 1981, as an Issaquah Class ferry, for service on the Edmonds-Kingston route. In the early 1990s, ridership on the Edmonds-Kingston route had grown to the extent that the Chelan could not handle capacity, and she was replaced on this route by a second Super-class vessel. As a result, the Chelan began to serve as replacement ferry. Many of the routes she would serve, she would be replacing an Issaquah 130 ferry, causing service disruptions by carrying fewer vehicles. In 2004, she was refit, much like her sister ships to include a second vehicle deck along the outer bulkheads. After changes in Coast Guard rules required SOLAS requirements for International Travel, the Chelan was upgraded to meet the SOLAS, or Safety Of Life At Sea, standards in 2005. As a result of the SOLAS upgrades, the Chelan is often the ferry that makes the International Crossing to Sidney, BC, although the Elwha, the other vessel with the SOLAS standards, usually operates on this route during fall and early spring operations. This also coincided with the modification of the interior layout of the Chelan to match that of its sister-ships, which began to have their spartan interiors upgraded in the early 2000s, the exception on the Chelan is the addition of a Duty Free area on board for the international crossings. The Chelan usually does the International route as well as domestic service between Anacortes and the San Juan Islands during the Spring Summer and Fall. During the Winter schedule she tends to move around between the Anacortes-San Juans, Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth, Mukilteo-Clinton, and Seattle-Bremerton routes.
References
- ↑ The Issaquahs today, part 2, evergreenfleet.com
- ↑ Vessel information, WSF, WSDOT
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