KENNEWICK, Wash. – A local woman spent part of her weekend stranded with hundreds of other people on a ferry named the “Walla Walla”.
The ferry was heading from Bremerton to Seattle when it lost power and ran aground near Bainbridge Island.
“We’ve got teams of people digging into it and it’s complex though,” said Sterling. “They haven’t found a root cause yet. Although, I think they’re beginning to narrow it down. It’s definitely looking like some kind of mechanical malfunction.”
Mayra Reyna was one of those on the boat and told me when they realized something was wrong.
“The Captain comes on and all of a sudden he says we’re having difficulties,” said Reyna. “We’ve lost all our abilities to steer and our propulsion. Then he said all of a sudden, I need everybody to brace for impact.
Reyna said everybody was breaking down trying to find the life jackets.
There were about 600 people on board including the crew and passengers.
Reyna said the crew members did the best they could given the situation.
Something, however, was every man for himself.
“My husband actually mentioned that he saw somebody take a box of candy or cookies or something from a younger kid,” said Reyna.
Reyna said they were stranded there for hours until eventually they were rescued by the Kitsap Transit passenger ferries. Reyna said she called a hotel in Bremerton to reserve a room for the night. Some weren’t as lucky.
“The people behind me did not get a room,” said Reyna. “There was no way everybody was going to get a room.”
After Reyna and her family checked in around 9:30 at night. Her husband and daughter went looking for food at a Subway restaurant but it was closed.
Reyna told me everything in Bremerton closes around 9 pm.
They eventually found some food at a local 7/11 store in the form of prepackaged sandwiches.
The family returned the next morning to retrieve their car off the ferry, as they had to leave it and pick it up later, along with everyone else.
“When we were sitting in the car and they were loading up the next ferry, I looked at my husband and he looked at me and said absolutely not!” said Reyna.
She said as they left they were given the contact information of WSF to try to get some compensation. She said she already contacted WSF.
She’s just waiting for an email back but does want them to pay for the hotel room.
Sterling tells me they want to do everything they can to make this right, and just to contact them for their troubles.
He tells me this is something that almost never happens.
According to Sterling the “Walla Walla” ferry hasn’t had problems like this since the 1980s
