State's newest ferry goes out of service briefly -- causing delays

MV Tokitae. (Wikimedia commons photo)



SEATTLE -- The ferry Tokitae was taken out of service Sunday morning so crews can make "necessary repairs to the vessel," according to WSDOT.

As of 11:30 a.m. Sunday, there was a 2-hour wait for vehicles at the Mukilteo terminal.

Officials said the Tokitae would be back in service starting with the noon sailing, but delays will likely continue due to heavy traffic and earlier single boat service.

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The Tolkitae was built this year and went into service earlier this summer.

After just one day, ferry crews said the ship went through mechanical and engineering glitches along with an apparent design flaw -- the  loading ramp on the vessel can cause some cars to bottom out.

More recently, the ferry Tacoma went out of service. WSDOT announced last week that the vessel blew a fuse in the propulsion control system. That led to major delays on other ferry routes.

The Tacoma is expected to be out of service through at least December.