The Anacortes-Sidney ferry service, a vital international link between Washington state and Vancouver Island, remains suspended five years after its closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
And despite a 2023 service restoration plan from the Washington state Department of Transportation that essentially ended the ferry run until 2030, many still wonder about that plan's status.
According to an April 7 update, international service to and from Sidney will remain suspended until further notice due to ongoing major crewing and vessel availability issues, though a fleet of electric ferries is in the works.
"There will be no service to and from Sidney through at least spring of 2030," the department announced on its website.
"By then, we will have built new hybrid electric ferries for our fleet that should enable allocation of a ferry to the international ferry route," confirmed Dana Warr, Washington State Ferries (WSF) external relations communications deputy director. "It will be subject to Safety of Life At Sea (SOLAS) certification, a U.S. Coast Guard requirement for vessels in international route service."
Vessel availability is a major constraint, Warr reiterated, noting WSF had retired five vessels and added only two since 2015.
Washington Governor Bob Ferguson, who took office in January, has pledged to expand the state’s fleet of electric ferries. The procurement process is already underway to acquire up to five new vessels. WSF will open bids from prospective shipbuilders in early April and aims to sign a contract with at least one successful bidder by late May.
Black Press Media reached out to Ferguson's office but has not yet heard back.
Ridership before service suspension
Before service was suspended, two daily sailings between Anacortes and Sidney in summer 2019 carried about 78,500 passengers – an average of 800 per day. That year, WSF reported just under 25 million riders system-wide.
The route was served by the Chelan, which holds 124 vehicles.
Starting June 15, visitors travelling the Anacortes-San Juan Islands route will see a new sailing schedule, minus the usual Sidney stop.
The suspension's impact
The effect of the suspension of the ferry service, which transported approximately 136,000 passengers in 2019, is deeply felt by both communities.
"The absence of these travellers continues to affect the region's tourism-based economy," said Sidney's chief administrative officer Liam Edwards. "Local hotels, restaurants, and shops benefitted from the flow of visitors from Washington state. The economic benefits of the ferry route extended throughout southern Vancouver Island, including the City of Victoria."
A 2020 economic impact report by the Economic and Development Services based in Washington estimated that the Anacortes-Sidney ferry service generated as much as US$50 million in economic activity and nearly 400 jobs within the WSF system.
It was unsurprising that when the Washington state Department of Transportation sent an updated WSF service restoration plan to the city of Anacortes on Feb. 28, 2023 – essentially ending the international ferry run until 2030 – that the delayed resumption was met with disappointment.
It prompted Anacortes Mayor Matt Miller to urge former Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee to reassess the decision.
"We have a crucial WSF connection that nearly two million people annually traverse to reach San Juan Islands and our sister city, Sidney, British Columbia," Miller said in a March 3, 2023 letter. "We were patient when the transportation department announced the international run would not be restored until 'late 2023,' but now find it completely unacceptable that the run will not be restored until 2030."
Miller proposed potential solutions to the staffing and vessel replacement challenges, among them reinstating previously terminated WSF employees and exploring public-private partnerships that would allow a private auto or passenger service to operate out of the WSF terminal until 2030.
Sidney Mayor Cliff-McNeil Smith and Destination Greater Victoria CEO Paul Nursey also voiced their support for the timely re-establishment of the ferry service in separate letters sent to the governor in April 2023, highlighting the shared history and cultural connections between the two cities. Aside from the mutual economic benefits, they noted the two cities' long shared history dating back to 1922 and the significance of the route in preserving Indigenous cultural connection among the Coast Salish people.
WSF has operated the route under a lease and operating agreement with the Town of Sidney, in place through at least 2031. The agreement includes an annual lease payment of approximately $201,500, with WSF responsible for regular maintenance of the terminal – a five-acre prime waterfront property adjacent to Sidney’s downtown.
McNeil-Smith says Sidney staff and council are continuing to explore options for early service restoration and have no update at this time. He admitted he was unsure how the evolving Canada-U.S. trade situation might impact the future of the Anacortes-Sidney ferry service.
"We cannot speculate on how tariffs may or may not impact the ferry service moving forward," Mayor McNeil-Smith said.
A website created in 2024 called Let's Bring Back the Anacortes to Sidney Ferry has garnered over a thousand supporters, reflecting the strong desire for the service to return.
For now, the terminal stands empty, its gates locked, as communities on both sides of the border hope for the return of ferry service in five years.
