Viral video shows Washington state ferry deck get flooded while crossing Strait of Juan de Fuca

A viral video aboard a Washington State Ferry is raising eyebrows and some serious concerns, after a boat bound for Anacortes was suddenly hit by a storm surge near the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
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[@DTM45]

It’s the ocean friends, things can happen. Go easy on the captain and others involved.

[@nicksam305]

What about the thousands of dollars of damage???

[@johnmacdonald1878]

I am a retired Captain. This Capt F’ ed up bad and put his or her vessel passengers and crew in significant danger. This Capt completely failed in thier primary purpose to keep everyone safe.

[@mrtopcat2]

@@johnmacdonald1878 I was wondering about this as well. Wasn't he supposed to no sail if the waters aren't calm enough? OR did these conditions come up sort of unexpectedly, although again, if he is a local, then he should know what to expect, but still.

[@johnmacdonald1878]

The forecast was clear enough early enough the Capt. should not have been caught out. Or surprised.the wind direction was key component. Jaun De Fuca straight is very open to the west and wind tends to funnel along the straight resulting in significant seas when the wind is from the west. East wind would probably be ok. When the front passes the wind typically veers to the west. So local knowledge also plays a part. After having screwed this up comes basic seamanship. First sight of water on deck slow down. Don’t do a Herald. Of Free enterprises. These ships are double ended it can reverse course without turning round. Just transfer control to other bridge and go back.

[@mrtopcat2]

@@johnmacdonald1878 Thanks for the explanation. Good thing the ship did not go down. Many many years ago, I once travelled on a ferry in Italy. It was a tall ship with a lot's of cars. I was rather sleeping on deck in the cold and refused to the belly of the ship. I remember my father teasing me. Then as many years later as the Estonia happened, he told me "you know, you probably would have been one of the few on that ship with a chance to survive". I also once read a chapter in a book (The Outlaw Sea) about the Estonia.

[@geoffreytofte4049]

This is not the first time Why everyone acting like this is the first time this has happened ?

[@cortical1]

No one said it's the first time. They're just saying it happened. Because it did.

[@takumi2023]

probably the first time they've seen something like this.

[@cortical1]

Things happen and then get reported on the news. No one in this newscast said this never happened before. 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@bryanparenteau374]

I saw that ferry last night docked at Anacortes, while I patiently waited for the Yakima to take home to Friday Harbor.

[@Howrider65]

It was built when people knew how to make things.

[@greasesicle]

Built by drunks and stoners.

[@notanymore9471]

@@greasesiclewho make great welders and fabricators.

[@jamesfoureight9879]

Why do these things excite me, I wanna be on that ferry ⛴️ 🌊 🕺

[@imageislandmarine4988]

Good thing that Tesla didn't go up in flames, Salt water usually causes a short circuit.

[@467076]

😳😳😳

[@D-B-Cooper]

My thoughts.👍

[@RoadKing65]

Then it would of been described like this. Global warming cause a giant wave that pounded a petrol powered ferry and a Tesla was a casualty. Service for the Tesla and a go fund me page will be announced for the owner at a later date.

[@adamrichardson2227]

For now... Give it some time.

[@scottmcshannon6821]

a real FUDster arent you?

[@sonja437]

I am glad that this ferry remains in service, as someone commented earlier, this ferry was built when high quality skills and materials were used. These ferries are very sound. As someone commented, who knows about the seas that the Irish ferries sail in, this was pretty minor. Washingtonians really benefit from the ferry systems to traverse the inland waterway, the Puget Sound. I believe the captain of the Issaquah made a sound decision and he captained the ferry to its destination with minimal damage. Plus, as the news reporter stated, it was not a route that the ferry travels as the sea there is much rougher. Think of the high adventure the crew had that day! A story they can tell their kids and grandkids to over the coming years. When you visit Washington, an inexpensive adventure is to ride a ferry to a destination with your car or as a walk on, and enjoy the day at a sweet coastal town.

[@mtp160788]

They are junk compared to the BC Ferries. Took them once, never again.

[@clifover]

Oh c'mon folks, I have ridden on all the Washington St. ferries, sometimes in pretty snotty weather, and have heard stories of waves washing through the car deck. a decision was made to make the trip and I bet some pressure applied to get that boat repaired and back in service. They made it to P.A. all's well and end of over hyped story.

[@denelson83]

PA? Port Angeles?

[@lowandslow3939]

And the totaled cars?

[@clifover]

Imay be totally wrong, but I believe they said the boat was going, yes, to Port Angeles for repairs, and that's open Straits of Juan DeFuca.@@denelson83

[@Oldguy-k3t]

It's pretty easy for these ships to sink. Thy call them roll on, roll off, roll over.😊

[@xr6lad]

Look up the many ferries that got water in to their car deck and capsized because the pumps become overwhelmed or the cars shift moving the centre of gravity. It’s not a funny matter

[@philjamieson9501]

Um, was the captain hung over? What a foolish decision!

[@PerspectiveEngineer]

Don't forget your kids birthday

[@johnmacdonald1878]

Yep Capt was a fool. Sums it up.

[@sheilathailand1903]

Really bad decision, jeez.

[@PerspectiveEngineer]

How's that second wife working out?

[@redjetsen1002]

The Issaquah is a worthy ship...worth fixing. Are you kidding replace it? That would be a mistake. Keep what you have that works and maintain it.

[@michaeladams9629]

They were trying to damage the vessel “ ON PURPOSE” so they could get a new one. Remember what they did to the older, I-90 floating bridge, yeah they had all of the maintenance doors on the pontoons open during a storm, and then couldn’t or wouldn’t contact the right person to get permission to close them when water started filling some pontoons. Oops, guess we need a new bridge now, it’s just money. Yeah my money, time for some big time audits in this city, county, & State.

[@BajatheChickenMan]

damn, that ferry should've stayed put for another day. There were definitely weather warnings.

[@PerspectiveEngineer]

And you couldn't even become a cop let alone the captain of a boat.

[@scotttild]

That area can get really rough during winter.

[@josephbrimhall4811]

I wonder how well electric vehicles do after a full saltwater bath?

[@cashus68]

OMG !!!! me 8/5/68 road those ferries my whole life in some tough swells from Edmonds to Kingston in the 70,s never did we go through that stuff!!! I would be sure that boat should have went down !!! No WAY !! That any ferry should be in that stuff ! Captain was playing with the DEVIL !!!!! He got lucky. and so did his crew.

[@scottmcshannon6821]

if there were no passengers, whose cars were those on the ferry?

[@onewheelisbetterthan2]

The thing is... I park my motorcycle right up front and it would definitely be knocked over here. I've had some close calls over the years and gotten lucky. Looks like an angry sea trying to give excitement to the ferry ride.

[@JessieWalker-no8zq]

I been on that ferry many times why the hell would you even disembark knowing those waves are that big they knew what was going on out there have we become that stupid or do we just not care anymore cause of the money?

[@PerspectiveEngineer]

Because you have a GED any other guys a captain of a ship.

[@paulineackermann2598]

Manufactured crises for an excuse to raise our taxes.~:>

[@christianthomle4426]

Well, I can tell you one thing having lived out the San Juan islands, all my life and boating all my life. You can start crossing the straits of Wanda fuka and have it flat calm, and by the time you get halfway across, it's turned to absolute s*** and extremely dangerous conditions. I know I've crossed in a 23 foot boat before and weather. Just as bad as what that ferry was in and lived, tell about it. And like I said that body of water can get really rough really quick. The captain probably was looking at things figuring. It was gonna not be too bad and then it turned the shit which it can do out in the sand wands very quickly especially on heroes straight the straits of wanda fuka and the straits of georgia

[@viclotorto9488]

I’ve been down in the engine room , How scary

[@johncorrigan8446]

Wonder how the ferry would perform if it was fully loaded?

[@americanrambler4972]

This type of flooding across the deck of a Washington state ferry does happen from time to time. While not exactly routine, it’s not un heard of. There are some on line videos of other occurrences of this happening. There is even one video of some cars getting shoved around by the water coming across the deck. These ferries are not the same configuration as the ocean going ferries commonly used in Europe where the car decks are enclosed by big doors. These are open deck ferries with no car doors. They are capable of taking rough water one of the waves break over the bow and move across the car deck. The below deck spaces are protected by water tight doors so water washing across the deck does not enter the hull. Plus there are plenty of openings along the sides and at the rear for the water to quickly depart overboard, so it will not build up and sink or capsize the vessel. If you notice, the cars on the deck were all parked in the center of the boat away from the ends. This minimized the force of the water moving across the deck and engulfing the cars. And this is puget sound Washington. Most if not all of the salt water that struck those cars was washed off while they were parked at the terminal and on the drive home in the rain. These cars were not flooded as most people view the term, in that they were sitting in standing salt water and had time to enter the insides of the car through crevices and openings. The car electrical systems are designed and built to get wet on the outside of the car, and the interior was not intruded upon. They were just splashed. Like they would get in a heavy rain storm driving down the road.

[@PerspectiveEngineer]

Cool Ferry be tight! Great Work

[@denelson83]

This is why BC Ferries has closed car decks on its larger vessels.

[@ButtKoWitz]

No that isn't really why. It's because BC Ferries cross large bodies of open water and ocean -- where average waves are larger. WSF operates in the relatively sheltered inland waters of Puget Sound where "big" waves are ~4-8 feet. On a different note, one might question the course (angle relative to the waves) of this open bow ferry and speed of the ferry.

[@scotttild]

Straits of Juan De Fuca can get rough during the winter although nothing like what the BC farriers transit.

[@johnmacdonald1878]

Actually BC Ferries on the older double end ferries are built to a very similar design by the same naval architect. They have bow and stern doors which are NOT weather tight. The do keep the rain and wind off. When you get water on deck like this it’s past high time speed was reduced and direction changed.

[@robertbrouillette6767]

The Isaquah. Wasn’t that one of those built at what later became Unimar? What was the name of that small shipyard

[@LisaBuckley-lf7sl]

Why dont people take the warnings given?

[@Weathernerd27]

They shouldn't allow cars on the ferry in those conditions if water gets into a car engine and you run the engine not knowing there is water in it you will destroy the engine/total the car. The engine will try to compress the water but water is much less compressible than gas and the pistons will bend/break when they can't compress the water. Of course the engine is shielded from puddle splash but if the water is a foot or more deep it might get past some of the engine seals. The odds of water getting into the engine are much lower when the engine is off and has no internal pressure but its still not a good idea for a car to be in more than a foot of water.

[@alanendurance]

So whose paying for the damages?

[@467076]

Not insurance lol

[@janncoons7445]

The taxpayers as usual

[@PerspectiveEngineer]

Not you... why ask

[@michaeldecker2725]

This is practically a non-story. A full explanation was given by the reporter. No payingpasengers were aboard , no injuries were reported, boat was going for service, waters got rough after a calm start.

[@takumi2023]

i don't see the problem here. this is a water vessel meant to float. it not like it was taking on water. water was just splashing onto a deck close to the waterline.

[@jo12t]

Check your car insurance cov. Hmm, wonder if any dmg caused by this would be covered…

[@janncoons7445]

Well unfortunately the people that run the ferries are not real bright. And don't forget the Cretin governor fired the seasoned well-trained intelligent employees. Now we just have a bunch of monkeys that thing the city of London is in the country of Paris. Scary

[@PerspectiveEngineer]

Um

[@mikeyboy3054]

I live in Thailand and regularly travel on ferries. Washington State Ferries or BC Ferries where I am from are luxury cruise ships compared to the rusting hulks I've gotten on. They sink with regularity in this part of the world.

[@t.m9341]

Standard rain weather here

[@johnmacdonald1878]

Holly Shit.That vessel was in actual peril, free surface effect, is a well know and extremely dangerous even for a Ro RO pax ferry. This vessel was designed to operate in sheltered waters. Not seas like this. Some of the fingers can be pointed at regulations, design and area operation. Also co SOP weather limits ect. That is enough water on deck to severely affect the stability of the vessel. Not to mention potential injury to pax and crew from sea or effect of seas on vehicles. Bottom line the Master or Capt. in charge took this vessel to sea in conditions he damn well shouldn’t have and put everyone on board in danger. By the way, I’m a retired Ferry Master and I know this coast.

[@mrdan2898]

This could have been a remake of the the "MS Estonia" disaster! RORO Ferries are extremely dangerous if water enters the car deck, the chance of the ferry capsizing is a real possibility!

[@godadone]

It's a ship. Ships go to sea. The sea doesn't care.

[@mew1534]

Pretty low quality..... We need Ferrys that are storm proof and are sink-proof.

[@user-pj8hp9jd7t]

No such thing exists...that's a fairytale. The ocean will take what it wants, when it wants.

[@thomasmaughan4798]

"We need Ferrys that are storm proof and are sink-proof." They exist. Ocean going ferries have closed bow and stern once underway. Open ended ferries load and unload quickly but cannot take high waves, basically anything more than 6 feet starts to become a problem.

[@mariannorton4161]

Try being on a ferry on the Irish Sea when the weather goes to hell. This was not that bad. People need to understand not every event is going to be perfect and learn to deal with it.

[@johnmacdonald1878]

Irish Sea vessels are built to full ocean going requirements. This one was not it is designed and built for sheltered water

[@mariannorton4161]

@@johnmacdonald1878 It was also built to survive rough seas - which it did. That's the point. People have got to stop being terrified of what may go wrong and continue to demand the vessels they are on can handle it. Same as the Boening MAX series - built like shi* and killing people - or still made well and people were fine.

[@johnmacdonald1878]

@@mariannorton4161

[@johnmacdonald1878]

No actually it wasn’t it was designed and built for sheltered waters. It was never intended for rough seas. Fortunately it survived @@mariannorton4161

[@bltzcstrnx]

​@@mariannorton4161it's awful, cars with salty water have grave consequences. Seaborne ferries have fully enclosed deck.

[@briansmyla8696]

It's not 'footage' Footage refers to the measurement of the length of film or videotape that was used to record that particular segment. Since it is recorded on electronic media, no physical film or videotape was used. Therefore, there's no 'footage'. I wish people would stop being ignorant and educate themselves about the meanings of the words they use.

[@bikedawg]

if my car was on there, i'd sue them for water and corrosion damage.

[@mikeifyouplease]

Hopefully, none of the vehicles on board were EV's. Salt water pretty much insures that the EV batteries will experience thermal runaway in the near future, and will have to be "totaled" by the owner's insurance company.

[@ge2623]

"Flood on the ferry, rain on the plow"- John Cougar.

[@Warrior1_]

Prayers for all involved

[@t.m9341]

Captain is a chad . Boat 62 dont stop for nothing . Like a boat

[@MicBergsma]

Stop filming vertical 🥴

[@thomasmaughan4798]

I despair that people will ever learn to photograph sideways (landscape) when the scene itself is sideways.

[@captainmidnight7012]

Those cars are worthless now !

[@TaylorFlohr-ky9bd]

I live in that area and it gets really rough in the winter and fall when the wind picks and we get floods from when it rains a lot so I guess if you live in certain parts of Washington you get used to it I guess and I'm not saying that this should be ignored I'm just saying some people in Washington wouldn't see it as big as a problem as other people would.(Sorry if that sound kind if rude that's not my intention)

[@michaelcook4194]

No passengers aboard just crew? Why are those cars there if no passengers?

[@bandido7994]

If salt water enters your car there will be some serious damage.

[@JJ-ls8ep]

35 years never seen such a mess .I would not want to have my car flooded with salt water.

[@shop970]

Greed and envy are top notch in doing whatever I want nonsense.

[@geoffcarroll05]

Wow. They need to figure out a budget to fix our ferries

[@macjim]

Reminds me of a day trip from Garlieston to Douglas, Isle of Man on the Waverley paddle steamer decades ago. It was flat calm (but a stormy day) when we left the harbour but once out in the open sea we were met with the full force of the weather. We sailed up the west coast of Scotland for a long time before turning to head for Douglas (to steam into the weather). We ended up stuck on the island for the weekend as we couldn’t head back in that weather so they hired all the hotels and b&b’s to accommodate us. We were on the bbc news that night ⛴️

[@JohnGutierrez-u9n]

Did y’all finds any FISH on that ferry deck ?

[@milesmayhem5440]

Those cars are fucked.

[@tjpprojects7192]

I've been on a few of these ferrys a couple times. Kinda cool.

[@KingSobieski]

So it didnt sink, seems like it did OK. People were a lot more tough when they built that thing.

[@FORKandFIFTIES]

I would think this happens sometimes?

[@Filmed.By.Kenzie]

NO I RIDE THIS SO MUCH 😭

[@zackd5790]

😂😂😂 I love Seattle so very nice here. Yes it is.🎉🎉🎉

[@sgtpepperz25]

Yep, mother nature is a fury!

[@jmcd21182]

Wouldn't a flood on a ferry be called sinking?

[@bennettemerson]

Follow the money... it is all about the money. Yes the Capt. has the final say and is responsible. And yes he can also be looking for another job, finding some one who can do the job as the owners will tell him.

[@festersmith8352]

Truck drivers under go the same thing. I point no ill toward the captain.

[@jdpatrick1106]

Those cars look like they may be damaged.

[@Zircon10]

What happens to EVs when they get their electrical systems flooded, short out because this is salt water, batteries go into thermal runaway, and fire ensues??? You can't say it won't happen because we saw what happened when BEVs were flooded in hurricane storm wash in Florida...they caught fire.

[@vinny143]

Those cars are A total loss

[@AlohaYeshua]

Oh dear, I guess I AINT riding the ferri 🙏🏽♥️🌺🕊🙏🏽♥️🕊🌺

[@daphnekivinen9482]

Did the cars suffer damage? Could they run after their dousing? Thx!

[@SocialistDistancing]

Those vehicles are probably write offs. How much is that cost the company

[@wyllie4961]

Save the 3rd gen 4Runner!

[@ShariHoldal]

Some of the ferries don't even have enough life jackets. They said if a boat is going to sink there is time for the other boats to come and give the boat some more life jackets. Bainbridge Island run.

[@ButtKoWitz]

Ignorant statement. WSF, like nearly all commercial ships, operates inspected vessels. That is, the USCG annually inspects all aspects of the ship (machinery, general condition, navigation equipment, safety/lifesaving gear, etc), and drills the officers, crew, and engineers and then signs off a Certificate of Inspection which authorizes said vessel to operate (a copy of said document should be publicly displayed on board, go have a look). Each vessel must, by federal requirements, have on board enough life jackets for each and every *potential* soul aboard (crew and passengers). So a 2000 passenger ship WILL have 2000 PFDs, at a minimum.

[@boataxe4605]

⁠@@ButtKoWitzDamn right! Can’t understand how many people believe what “They said” and spread it without checking the facts.

[@thereissomecoolstuff]

Seriously how long have you been a antifa subversive. They also have enough life rafts too. Jesus

[@ItsWeldonMedia]

That ferry is almost younger than the supreme court justices! God are Americans that much of hoarders they dont know when to let the trash out? END THE TYRANT RULE

[@jeffs4483]

All those vehicles ruined.

[@3nuklr]

Honey, the cars are parked on the "Car Deck". The passengers are parked on the "Passenger Deck" (one or two flights up). You're doing a lot of speculating after the fact and a bunch of Monday morning quarterbacking. I'd rather be on a boat that was skippered by this Captain than you. But then, when the weather is this crappy, I'd just stay home. Born, raised and have spent my whole life here, but what do I know ?

[@patriciasimpsonnewton9395]

Not everybody goes up to the passenger deck. I hope they did on this run.

[@drumswest5035]

Maybe doors on the bow might be a good idea, crappy design

[@Sinailionspride]

Done by DESIGN

[@garythesquidsquid7779]

Oh yea? Please elaborate

[@iainsmith1493]

Ships carry boats this aint no boat get it right

[@Michael-cr2rn]

OH HELL NO!!!

[@default_user_id]

WSF dammed when they do and dammed when they don't Thank you all crew for when you get me to work and home again

[@bobdobalina8910]

Thankfully there were No Icebergs! Full Steam Ahead!

[@dalemullins4562]

somebody just bought a bunch of cars

[@ElizabetaDante]

Wow

[@cece3194]

WOAH!

[@t.m9341]

This is how i wash my car

[@tagmaster9522]

Where's Tom Holland?

[@DaleRunningbear]

😂 close the door 🚪

[@AgoraSage]

It's not that bad in all honestly, get real fox.

[@CorporalDanLives]

1:02 and now, PS2 man

[@UTeeNye]

Flood cars do not buy

[@108farley]

It seems like a somel captains are not making the best decisions. Maybe there should be some oversight? Why for instance did the Fauntleory crash happen? The technology has be around for a while that can tell if you are going too fast for your approach. An alarm should have gone off! These issues are preventable. We appreciate you captains but we are all human and its best not let power coalesce with so many lives at stake. As far as this event that happened today. Every weather app I have, predicted extremely high winds for that area.today. Seems like the caption didn't do there do diligence... If they had to check in with a small group about their decision things would probably gone a lot better......It a tough job. Probably really stressful. Seems like it would be good for the captains to have backups and support. But what do I know..... We pulled into the Fauntleory terminal just as after accident happened..... very dramatic! We cancelled work that day!

[@ab377.]

ATTA BOY

[@andyhadzhinyan4936]

soo beautifull news....please point camera to.clouds sometimes

[@liberatedwoman]

That’s why ships have scuppers. 😖😖😖typical FOX inaccurate hype. 🥶

[@annmariesnowden3605]

Waahooo

[@D-B-Cooper]

Diversity hires.

[@jeffreycornish4436]

Nice could be a new thing take a ferry ride get a free car wash 😂😂😂😂

[@rickvervoort9536]

Free car wash for you and you and you!

[@darknessislight3689]

😳🫢😳🫣🫢 NOPE

[@Toekneepowers]

Is this Trumps fault?

[@missymoonwillow6545]

why not invest in awesome ferries like the ones in Japan? Could help tourism and generate much needed revenue. This rusty bucket doesn't even look remotely safe against those giant waves you see in this footage. Hell to the naw. America deserves better than scraps from a previous generation.

[@bikedawg]

'Merica!