The 144-car Elwha’s drive motor has been fixed and it returned to the Anacortes-San Juan Islands route on Thursday. That will allow the 90-car Sealth to bump down to the inter-island route and relieve the 34-auto Hiyu .
The Elwha was removed from
service on March 24 after the crew discovered sparking in an
electrical switch in its drive motor.
Washington State Ferries electricians and port engineers worked with the vendors of the drive motor and control system to perform a full evaluation of the drive motor, component by component. Crews cleaned the motor, changed brushes, and made recommended adjustments. Crews compared data collected during sea trials to ensure that the problem was fully addressed.
