MV Kitsap arrives in Downtown Seattle (2011)
History
Name	MV Kitsap
Owner	WSDOT
Operator	Washington State Ferries
Port of registry	Seattle, Washington,  United States
Route	Southworth-Fauntleroy-Vashon
Builder	Marine Power and Equipment, Seattle
Launched	17 October 1980
Completed	1980 Refit: 1992
Identification	IMO number: 7808126 MMSI number: 366772980 Callsign: WYR3421[1] Official Number: 630023
Status	In service
General characteristics
Class and type	Issaquah-class auto/passenger ferry
Length	328 ft (100.0 m)
Beam	78 ft 8 in (24.0 m)
Draft	16 ft 6 in (5.0 m)
Decks	2 car decks 1 passenger deck
Deck clearance	15 ft 8 in (4.8 m)
Installed power	Total 5,000 hp (3,700 kW) from 2 diesel engines
Speed	16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Capacity	1,200 passengers 124 vehicles (max 26 commercial)[2]
Crew	12

Leaving Mukilteo while filling in for the MV Tokitae.

MV Kitsap is an Issaquah-class ferry operated by Washington State Ferries. The Kitsap was built in 1980 as an Issaquah class and upgraded in 1992 moving it to the Issaquah 130 class due to adding an upper car deck. The vessel also received interior upgrades. The vessel used to have a rainbow color of blue, but has since been renovated with interior colors light, and dark blue, and dark green.

This vessel was originally used on the Seattle–Bremerton route. Over time, larger boats have generally displaced the Kitsap from the Seattle-Bremerton route, and the ferry has spent more and more time as a relief boat, filling in for ferries on other runs when they are out of service. The Kitsap is most frequently found on the Mukilteo-Clinton route, but is also often found on the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth, Anacortes-San Juan Islands, and Seattle-Bremerton routes.

Incidents

• In 1987, after a punk rock concert featuring Seattle band The Accüsed and British band G.B.H., rowdy concertgoers returning to Seattle from Natasha's in Bremerton incited a riot aboard the Kitsap, resulting in damages that cost $40,000.^[3][4]
• In 1991, the Kitsap collided with the MV Sealth in heavy fog in Rich Passage. Five years later, she ran aground on nearly the same spot as the collision.

References

External links

• Media related to IMO 7808126 at Wikimedia Commons