Peninsula Daily News

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COUPEVILLE — Ferry service between Port Townsend and Whidbey Island resumed this afternoon after one of the state ferry system vessels ran aground this morning while docking at Coupeville, shutting down all service on the Port Townsend-Coupeville route for seven hours.

Washington State Ferries spokesman Ian Sterling said the ferry MV Kennewick had to stay at the Coupeville dock following a “soft grounding” at 7 a.m. so that divers could inspect the boat’s hull for safety purposes.

“The ground in that particular area consists primarily of sand and mud,” Sterling said.

“That’s arguably our most complicated landing,” Sterling said of the dock in Keystone Harbor. “It’s very challenging for our captains and crew.”

The boat had departed on the 6:30 a.m. sailing from Port Townsend and was grounded at approximately 7 a.m. Service resumed at 2 p.m.

Sterling noted that soft groundings and hard groundings are treated the same in the interest of safety. Members of the Coast Guard inspected the boat.

Ferry bulletins can be accessed here: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/schedule/bulletin.aspx

Alternate routes are Edmonds-Kingston and Mukilteo-Clinton.

Reservation holders will not be charged a penalty if they are unable to travel Wednesday due to cancellations, officials said. No new reservations are available for the rest of the day due to the service disruption until further notice.

Reservation holders for any Wednesday sailing will now be prioritized on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The 279-foot Kennewick was built and launched in 2011. It partners on the two-ferry run with the MV Salish, a sister Kwa-di Tabil class state ferry.

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The PDN’s Seattle news partner, KOMO-TV, and a sister newspaper, The Whidbey Examiner, contributed to this report.