Passengers on the Washington State Ferries' Port Townsend/Coupeville are being reduced to single-ferry service, after one of the two ferries serving the route ran aground the afternoon of Sept. 9.

John Vezina, government relations director for Washington State Ferries, released a statement at 1:56 p.m., explaining the Salish, currently assigned to the Port Townsend/Coupeville route, ran aground at the Keystone Harbor in Coupeville earlier that afternoon.

“The vessel is now free from the grounding, and in the slip at the Coupeville terminal, but its rudder is stuck, taking it out of service,” Vezina said.“We know the Wooden Boat Festival is today, and there are many passengers who need to get home from it.”

To that end, Vezina elaborated Washington State Ferries would be sending out passenger alerts, and recommended both Clinton/Mukilteo and Edmonds/Kingston as the best alternate routes for Port Townsend/Coupeville passengers.

Washington State Ferries Communications Director Ian Sterling contacted The Leader at 4:15 p.m. to add a tug boat was either on its way or had already arrived at Coupeville, and with the permission of the U.S. Coast Guard, it would be towing the Salish out of Keystone Harbor so the Kennewick, the other ferry currently assigned to the Port Townsend/Coupeville route, could resume service.

“It'll be one-boat service for a while,” Sterling said.

Vezina noted the Salish needed to be confirmed as structurally safe to tow, before it could be removed from the Coupeville tie-up slip.

“Our operations and vessel maintenance departments are working to safely restore service as soon as possible,” Vezina said.

As to the cause of the ferry's grounding, Sterling deemed that an open question as of Sept. 9.

“Keystone Harbor is one of our most challenging landings by far,” Sterling said. “Although we know there was a rudder issue, I can't confirm whether that was prior to or during the Salish running aground.”

Sterling promised the public the Washington State Ferries would prioritize dealing with the downed ferry.

“Rest assured, we have multiple teams of personnel dealing with this, both from the investigative side and to hasten the restoration of full service,” Sterling said.

According to Sterling, updates on the exact restoration of service should be provided on the Washington State Ferries Twitter feed at @wsferries, or through its rider alerts online.