MV Hyak

The MV Hyak is a Super-class ferry that was operated by Washington State Ferries. Built in 1966 at the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company shipyard in San Diego, the ferry began service on July 20, 1967 and normally ran on the Seattle–Bremerton route or the Anacortes–San Juan Islands run.

The MV Hyak in Upright Channel, in between Lopez Island and Shaw Island
History
Name: MV Hyak
Owner: WSDOT
Operator: Washington State Ferries
Port of registry: Seattle, Washington,  USA
Route: Relief Vessel
Ordered: 1966
Builder: National Steel and Shipbuilding Company shipyard, San Diego, California
Cost: $6,500,000
Laid down: 1966
Launched: December 17, 1966
Christened: December 17, 1966
Completed: 1967
Acquired: July 4, 1967
Maiden voyage: July 19, 1967
In service: July 20, 1967
Identification:
Status: Retired, as of June 30th 2019
General characteristics
Class and type: Super-class auto/passenger ferry
Tonnage:
  • 2,704 gross-tonnage
  • 1,214 net-tonnage
Displacement: 3634 (weight in long tons)
Length: 382 ft 2 in (116.5 m)
Beam: 73 ft 2 in (22.3 m)
Draft: 18 ft 6 in (5.6 m)
Decks: 5
Deck clearance: 15 ft 6 in (4.7 m)
Installed power: Total 8,000 hp from 4 x Diesel-Electric engines
Propulsion: Diesel-Electric (DC)
Speed: 17 kn (31 km/h)
Capacity:
  • 2500 passengers
  • 160 vehicles (max 30 commercial)
Hyak seen approaching Lopez Island from the MV Samish.
The Hyak departs Bremerton with her 9:45 AM sailing to Seattle.
The Hyak seen passing Alki Point from the MV Tacoma on her final day of service

Hyak is chinook jargon for "speedy".[1]

History

The Hyak was built by the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company of San Diego, California in 1966, at a cost of $6.5 million. It was launched and christened by Nancy Evans, wife of Governor Daniel J. Evans, on December 17, 1966.[2] The vessel traveled north along the Pacific Coast in June 1967, but was delayed by a severe storm near San Francisco, California broke a temporary breakwater.[3] She arrived in Seattle on July 4, several days later than scheduled, and was moved to the Todd Shipyards for repairs.[4] The word Hyak is chinook jargon for "speedy".[5]

The ferry was not able to enter service after arrival because of an ongoing labor dispute with the local chapter of the International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots. The union argued that the wage agreement it signed with Washington State Ferries did not cover new, larger vessels like the Hyak. The dispute reached the King County Superior Court, where a judge signed an injunction ordering the ferry to be manned on its first run on July 19.[6] The Hyak entered service that afternoon, and was assigned to the Seattle–Bremerton route, cutting the crossing time from 65 minutes to 45.[7][8] The next day, the ferry made its first scheduled run and nearly rammed Pier 52 in Seattle after an engine failure.[9][10]

Unlike her sisters, the Hyak has not had her cabin refurbished.[11] In June 2015, the Hyak was replaced by the MV Samish in the third sailing spot in the San Juans. It was moved to the Seattle–Bremerton route for the remainder of its life, but returned to the San Juan route several times to replace vessels undergoing maintenance.[12][13][14] The Hyak primarily served as a standby vessel for the rest of the fleet and was considered for experimental conversion to use hybrid diesel-electric generators until the plan was scrapped in 2015.[15] The retirement of the Hyak, originally anticipated for the arrival of MV Samish, was delayed into 2019 after MV Suquamish replaced it as a relief vessel.[16]

The Hyak had a $37 million maintenance backlog that was left unaddressed by the state legislature, which allocated $2 million in supplemental funds to operate the ferry until June 2019.[17] The supplemental funds were not extended in the 2019–21 transportation budget, signaling the vessel's retirement. On June 30, 2019, the Hyak made its final run on the Seattle–Bremerton route; the vessel's retirement caused schedule modifications on several routes to accommodate the downsized fleet. The Hyak will be stripped of its usable equipment and prepared for sale as surplus property.[18][19]

Incidents

On April 14, 1986, the Hyak ran aground in Anacortes, Washington after a navigational error made by the crew, placing the ferry in shallow water above a reef. Only one injury was reported of the 250 people on board, but the ferry sustained damage that cost $250,000 to repair.[20][21][22]

On September 13, 2013, the Hyak collided with a private 27-foot-long (8.2 m) sailboat between Orcas and Shaw islands. No one was injured. The sailboat, however, was damaged and sank about 20 minutes after the accident.[23]

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References
  1. "M/V Hyak". Washington State Ferries. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  2. "1 Ferry Launched, 2 More Started". The Seattle Times. December 18, 1966. p. 34.
  3. "New Ferry Will Miss Her Starting Date". The Seattle Times. June 27, 1967. p. 10.
  4. "Superferry Here; Service Date Uncertain". The Seattle Times. July 4, 1967. p. 42.
  5. "M/V Hyak". Washington State Ferries. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  6. "Judge Orders Union to Man Superferry". The Seattle Times. July 19, 1967. p. 1.
  7. "Operators, Passengers Agree: Hyak's Great!". The Seattle Times. July 20, 1967. p. 6.
  8. Hannula, Don (July 16, 1967). "Superferry Hyak May—Or May Not—Make 1st Run Tomorrow". The Seattle Times. p. 44.
  9. "New Superferry Almost Rams Pier As Engines Die". The Seattle Times. July 20, 1967. p. 1.
  10. Stein, Alan J. (March 4, 2001). "Ferry Hyak enters service on July 20, 1967". HistoryLink. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  11. "The Super class today". Evergreen Fleet. Archived from the original on December 14, 2008. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  12. Smith, Anna V. Smith (December 30, 2015). "Elwha out of service due to "necessary repairs"". Journal of the San Juan Islands. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  13. Friedrich, Ed (April 28, 2001). "Hyak returning to Bremerton". Kitsap Sun. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  14. Lee Carlaw, Rex (February 13, 2009). "Back home on the Hyak". Kingston Community News. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  15. Friedrich, Ed (March 25, 2015). "WSF reconsidering converting ferry power". Kitsap Sun. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  16. Pilling, Nathan (February 16, 2018). "Once home to square dances, ferry Hyak headed toward retirement". Kitsap Sun. p. A5. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  17. Vosler, Christian (March 9, 2018). "State supplementary transportation budget would keep Hyak afloat". Kitsap Sun. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  18. "State ferry Hyak to sail into retirement" (Press release). Washington State Department of Transportation. June 27, 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  19. Guevara, Natalie (June 30, 2019). "Ferry Hyak to retire after final sailing Sunday night". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  20. "Ferry runs aground at Anacortes—300 aboard; 1 passenger". The Seattle Times. April 14, 1986. p. A1.
  21. "Ferry's first mate is suspended". The Seattle Times. April 29, 1986. p. D1.
  22. Nadler, Eric; Guillen, Tomas (April 17, 1986). "Grounding of Hyak laid to navigation". The Seattle Times. p. B2.
  23. "Sailboat sinks in San Juans after crash with state ferry". KIRO 7 News. September 13, 2013. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
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