PORT TOWNSEND — The state Department of Transportation Ferries Division will close the Port Townsend-Keystone route the weekend of Jan. 9-10 for a required Coast Guard annual inspection on the ferry Steilacoom II.

Customers are advised to plan on using the Edmonds/Kingston and Mukilteo/Clinton ferries as an alternate route between the Olympic Peninsula and Whidbey Island.

“Like all other ferries in the state system, the 50-car Steilacoom II is required by federal regulations to undergo an annual inspection by the U.S. Coast Guard every year,” said state ferries spokeswoman Laura Johnson.

Lifesaving equipment, verifying proper operation of navigation equipment and fire suppression systems and observing crew performance during emergency drills are all a part of the inspection, Johnson said.

Timing planned

In planning the timing of the annual inspection, state ferries officials consulted community stakeholders from Port Townsend and Coupeville.

Weighing the anticipated ridership, the expense of chartering passenger-only service and installing temporary passenger loading and unloading facilities — and the short duration of the inspection period — it was decided to close the route for this one weekend, Johnson said.

Typically, state ferries performs annual vessel inspections during a two-week maintenance period at its Eagle Harbor Maintenance Facility on Bainbridge Island.

However, because state ferries has no other vessels that can operate on the Port Townsend-Keystone route, officials will forgo the two-week annual maintenance availability for the Steilacoom II and perform the two-day annual inspection process at Port Townsend rather than at Eagle Harbor.

The maintenance that would have been performed at Eagle Harbor instead will be completed during the vessel’s nightly tie-ups.

Meanwhile, Todd Pacific Shipyards is more than halfway through the 18-month construction schedule for the 64-car Chetzemoka, which is planned to begin serving the route in late summer 2010.

A second 64-car ferry will join the Chetzemoka on the route the following year.

The ferries replace the more than 80-year-old Steel Electric ferries that served the route until November 2007 when Paula Hammond, state transportation secretary, pulled them from service, citing safety concerns.

The three vessels were sold and towed to Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, for scrap.

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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.