Stranded: Ferry system works to end missed sailings

For ferry customers, this has become an all too familiar situation: showing up to catch a boat only to find out it’s not sailing because there aren’t enough workers to man it.

Nearly 100 sailings were missed last year because of staffing issues, and the problem continues into 2014.

Six more sailings were canceled on Sunday on the Port Townsend-Coupeville run because there weren’t enough people on deck to operate the boats.

The missed sailings are something that irritates George Capacci, the deputy chief of the state ferry system, almost as much as stranded passengers themselves.

“You won’t read a newspaper that says ‘448 sailings carried out yesterday,’ you’ll say ‘two were missed,'” he said. “Or three were missed or as in Sunday six were missed.”

Capacci said nearly a third of the entire ferry staff asked for Sunday off. That’s 111 people who wanted the day, and it included someone who couldn’t make it in because of the snowy weather. The state filled 109 of those requests after making hundreds of calls on Saturday and Sunday.

Capacci said the Coast Guard increased the minimum staffing requirements on the ferry system in 2012, and the state is still trying to catch up. If even one of those people can’t make a boat, the sailing is canceled.

Training new people and helping current workers advance to jobs with more experience takes a lot more time than it used to.

“Years ago, you got a document from the Coast Guard, and you were working the next day,” Capacci said. “Now, to take an entry level ordinary seaman, we put them through 11 days of training before they ever step on board one of the ships.”

And the state has greatly reduced the subsidies for workers who need more schooling for promotion.

The secretary of transportation called for the hiring of 45 new deckhands in September. Capacci said they are on track to hire 60 by the peak summer season, but it will take a while to get them qualified.

And Capacci is asking for customers’ patience. He said they are trying to fix the staffing issues and prevent any sailings from being canceled. “We do not want to miss any sailings at all because of crew issues,” he said. “We know it affects people’s lives.”