Ferry repair underway; back in service soon

Difficulty in obtaining parts has resulted in a delay in the anticipated repair of the ferry Oscar B, Wahkiakum County Public Works Director Chuck Beyer announced last Thursday.

On Jan. 5, Public Works officials said a shipyard had said that repairs could be completed in "6-9" days, which would have been the end of this week.

However, that shipyard ran into difficulty in obtaining parts, and Beyer had to change course and contract with a second yard. The change in plans now means that the repairs could be completed around January 22.

The change in plans also means that workers can install a much preferred cooling system called "keel coolers."

"This is a long term fix," Beyer said this past Tuesday at the meeting of the board of county commissioners. "The parts are scheduled to be delivered Wednesday, and they'll start work as soon as the dry dock is ready."

Commissioner Mike Backman, who runs a commercial fishing business, was happy with the plan.

Keel coolers are a self-contained system," he said. "They won't get plugged up with needles. This is the way to go."

Here is the text of Beyer's communication last Thursday to The Eagle:

"I noticed in the paper today you stated the ferry would be back in service late next week. Unfortunately that is not correct. The boat yard we initially contacted was not able to obtain some of the required parts within the time frame we needed, and we have switched to JT Marine Inc., a boat yard in Vancouver, WA, who were able to obtain the parts.

"The ferry will be delivered tomorrow (Friday) to JT Marine. Once on dry dock, JT Marine will be installing a keel cooling system for the generators. This is a deviation from the repair design by Elliott Bay design group. Elliott Bay Design Group was able to find a company capable of supplying two keel coolers for the ferry once they found out the repairs were not going to be completed at the ferry ramp. It appears the cost should be the same as the sea chest system if not less. The keel cooler option is a preferred repair over the sea chest and will eliminate any future problems with the cooling of the generators.

"The Ferry will hopefully be back in service by the end of the week of January 18 thru 22nd, so long as repairs go in a timely manner and all required inspections are approved.

"Chuck Beyer, Wahkiakum Public Works"