MV Chelan

MV Chelan in the San Juan Islands
History
Name	MV Chelan
Owner	WSDOT
Operator	Washington State Ferries
Port of registry	Seattle, Washington, United States
Route	Summer: Anacortes-Sidney, BC; Off-Season: Varies
Builder	Marine Power and Equipment, Seattle
Completed	1981 Refit: 2004
Identification	Official Number: 643291 Call Sign: WRA9001
General characteristics
Class and type	Issaquah 130 Class auto/passenger ferry
Length	328 ft (100.0 m)
Beam	78 ft 8 in (24.0 m)
Draft	15 ft 6 in (4.7 m)
Decks	2 auto decks/1 passenger deck
Deck clearance	15 ft 6 in (4.7 m)
Installed power	Total 5,000 hp from 2 diesel engines
Speed	16 kn (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Capacity	1200 passengers 124 vehicles (max 26 commercial) - On the international route, her passenger capacity is 1076 people.

The MV Chelan is an Issaquah 130 Class ferry operated by Washington State Ferries, completed and in service in 1981.

History

The Chelan was built in 1981, as an Issaquah Class ferry, for service on the Edmonds-Kingston route. In the early 1990s, ridership on the Edmonds-Kingston route had grown to the extent that the Chelan could not handle capacity, and she was replaced on this route by a second Super-class vessel. As a result, the Chelan began to serve as replacement ferry. Many of the routes she would serve, she would be replacing an Issaquah 130 ferry, causing service disruptions by carrying fewer vehicles. In 2004, she was refit, much like her sister ships to include a second vehicle deck along the outer bulkheads. After changes in Coast Guard rules required SOLAS requirements for International Travel, the Chelan was upgraded to meet the SOLAS, or Safety Of Life At Sea, standards in 2005. As a result of the SOLAS upgrades, the Chelan is often the ferry that makes the International Crossing to Sidney, BC, although the Elwha, the other vessel with the SOLAS standards, usually operates on this route during fall and early spring operations. This also coincided with the modification of the interior layout of the Chelan to match that of its sister-ships, which began to have their spartan interiors upgraded in the early 2000s, the exception on the Chelan is the addition of a Duty Free area on board for the international crossings. The Chelan usually does the International route as well as domestic service between Anacortes and the San Juan Islands during the Spring Summer and Fall. During the Winter schedule, she tends to move around between the Anacortes-San Juans, Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth, Mukilteo-Clinton, and Seattle-Bremerton routes.