Washington State Ferries chief Mike Anderson announced Wednesday he will retire soon as head of the nation’s largest ferry system.
“I’ve been thinking about it for some time. I have 34 years in the ferry system and that is a long, long time,” he said.
Anderson, 52, said he expects to remain on the job until the end of the year and hopes to continue to working in the maritime industry.
Anderson’s career with the ferry system began in 1973 as a ticket seller. He rose through the ranks to director of operations, and was tapped for the top ferry job in 2004 by then-Transportation Secretary Doug MacDonald.
Anderson said he’s proud of the ferry system, particularly the ability of the people who work there to keep operating routes under challenging conditions. The ferry system carries roughly 24 million passengers and 11 million vehicles each year and last year had an on-time performance record on 94 percent of its scheduled sailings.
“It’s not easy work. It’s tough work,” Anderson said.
The ferry system has struggled in recent years with increasing ridership, financial challenges and slow progress on replacing aging vessels. The fleet includes four 80-year-old Steel Electric-class boats, the oldest ferries operating in salt water in the U.S., including the run between Keystone on Whidbey Island and Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula.
They have been plagued throughout this year with a series of leaks, cracks and questions and roughly $4 million in unanticipated repairs. The work has been necessary to maintain U.S. Coast Guard operating permits.
Anderson on Wednesday said he expects to remain in his job long enough to suggest to state lawmakers a plan for addressing the aging ferries and the future of ferry service between Keystone and Port Townsend.
The Steel Electrics are the only vessels in the fleet small enough and agile enough to safely negotiate the harbor at Keystone.
Addressing concerns with the Steel Electrics “is not something that is so dire that it is going to require an emergency in this next short time period,” Anderson said.
The state’s new secretary of transportation, Paula Hammond, praised Anderson in a prepared statement.
“Congratulations to Mike, and many thanks for his decades of service,” she said. “We will greatly miss his experience, expertise and leadership. We’re poised to make some major decisions about ferries, and we have much work ahead. Fortunately, Mike has set us on the right course.”
Reporter Scott North: 425-339-3431 or north@heraldnet.com.
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