The Annapolis-Bremerton foot ferry has been suspended indefinitely, and Kitsap Transit says it simply doesn't have enough working vessels to run the route. The disruption started on Oct. 22, when the M/V Waterman was pulled from service over mechanical issues, and the agency now says the damage runs deeper than a routine repair.
According to ktheadways.com, the Annapolis/Bremerton foot ferry service remains suspended indefinitely due to a shortage of operating vessels. As Kitsap Sun reported, Kitsap Transit canceled all Annapolis-Bremerton sailings until further notice due to mechanical issues, suspending the route because too few foot ferries were operating between Bremerton and South Kitsap. The agency runs two commuter boat routes across Sinclair Inlet, serving the Port Orchard Marina and the Annapolis dock, which sits a few miles east of downtown Port Orchard.
A Battery Problem With No Easy Fix
The Waterman relies on batteries to power its electric motors, and Kitsap Transit sent those batteries out for repair after the failure. The repair facility determined the battery was damaged beyond repair, and the battery's manufacturer has exited the market, with no other marine battery meeting the software and hardware requirements of the propulsion system, per the same report from ktheadways.com. In a video, Kitsap Transit Marine Services Director Nick Zylstra said the Waterman cannot sail without its batteries and that the failure could not be fixed, leaving the vessel out of service for the foreseeable future.
The Waterman, a 70-foot hybrid-electric passenger catamaran that can carry up to 150 passengers, entered service in 2019 as the first commercial hybrid diesel-electric ferry in Puget Sound, according to Glosten, the vessel's designer. Kitsap Transit is now in discussion with Glosten about a path forward for the boat while also looking for commercial passenger vessels to charter that meet its operating requirements, the agency said in the same ktheadways.com update.
Leaning on an Aging Backup
With the Waterman sidelined, Kitsap Transit's other backup option, the Carlisle II, has its own complications. The nearly 110-year-old historic vessel is currently out of service for a scheduled inspection, required by the U.S. Coast Guard every two years. The agency is working with a shipyard to expedite repairs and maintenance on the Carlisle II so it can operate service in December, the report notes.
Meanwhile, riders on the Port Orchard-Bremerton route, served by the Admiral Pete, have seen additional weekday sailings added during peak commute hours to meet demand, the same ktheadways.com account states. But that relief could be short-lived: the Admiral Pete is planned to enter dry dock for maintenance in mid-January 2027, and Kitsap Transit will then operate the Carlisle II on that route without a backup vessel. Per the agency's own alternate schedule, published by kitsaptransit.com, backup vessels cannot keep the same schedule when the Admiral Pete is taken out of service, so Kitsap Transit will operate with fewer crossings during that stretch.
A Longer-Running Vessel Headache
This isn't the first time the Waterman's propulsion system has complicated Kitsap Transit's plans. Back in April, the agency warned that the Federal Transit Administration might withdraw roughly $7.7 million in previously awarded funding if a proposed new vessel's propulsion system wasn't changed to hybrid or diesel, according to kitsapdailynews.com. That proposed vessel, intended to replace the Admiral Pete, had its design initially based on the Waterman's hybrid-electric system as a baseline, but the manufacturer no longer makes that system for marine vessels.
The Kitsap Transit board voted 7-2 in April to support switching the proposal from all-electric to hybrid-electric, the outlet reported. At the time, the agency projected a new hybrid vessel could arrive by mid-2028, compared with the first quarter of 2029 for an all-electric version — a timeline gap that underscores just how long Kitsap Transit may be working with a stretched fleet.
Agency spokesperson Sanjay Bhatt said Kitsap Transit plans to update riders and the community when new information becomes available. For now, commuters on the Annapolis-Bremerton route are left watching for a Carlisle II return in December, with no firm word yet on when full service might resume.
