RIDE KITSAP TRANSIT

Our Ferry Fleet

Kitsap Transit is proud to operate high-speed passenger ferry service from Bremerton, Kingston and Southworth to downtown Seattle. Our fast ferries shorten the travel time between the Kitsap Peninsula and downtown Seattle, creating new opportunities for work, school and play on both sides of the Puget Sound.

Likewise, our local foot ferries form a vital connection between downtown Bremerton and Port Orchard across Sinclair Inlet by shuttling Puget Sound Naval Shipyard employees to and from work every day and allowing South Kitsap residents to access Seattle via our Bremerton Fast Ferry service.

All vessel specifications listed below are from U.S. Coast Guard Certificate of Inspection.

Ferry Performance Indicators Dashboard 

Click here for the Ferry Performance Indicators Dashboard (October 2024 update)

The dashboard covers our local and cross-sound passenger-only ferries. If you have questions or suggestions for the dashboard, please send an e-mail to Sanjay Bhatt, Marketing & Public Information Director, at sanjayb@kitsaptransit.com

FAST FERRIES


Rich Passage 1

The Rich Passage 1 (RP1) is Kitsap Transit’s first fast ferry. Featuring a patented hydrofoil-assisted hull design developed by Teknicraft in New Zealand, RP1 was a prototype ultra-low-wake ferry built to make the Bremerton/Seattle trip in about 30 minutes without generating wakes that could damage Rich Passage’s beaches.  The research project demonstrated that the RP1 could successfully transport passengers through Rich Passage at full speed without having a discernible impact on beaches.

The success of the Rich Passage Wake Research project paved the way for a ballot measure that voters approved in 2016, which allowed Kitsap Transit to fund our fast ferry program.

Vessel information 

Name: The Rich Passage 1 is named for Rich Passage, the narrow waterway between Bainbridge Island and the Kitsap Peninsula.
Year Built: 2010
Route: Bremerton-Seattle
Capacity: 118 passengers, 12 bicycles
Length: 72'
Beam: 28'
Engines: 4
Horsepower: 3,500
Speed (knots): 34 cruising/37 top

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Photo courtesy of All American Marine


Rich Passage Beach Monitoring 

The Rich Passage Wake Research project was designed to investigate the feasibility of fast-ferry service through Rich Passage. Conducted over more than a decade and a half, the study involved extensive data collection, computerized wave and wake modeling, development and testing of a prototype low-wake vessel and ongoing monitoring of the effects of fast-ferry operations on the shorelines of Rich Passage. The research project has collected periodic measurements of beaches before and during operation of the low-wake optimized vessels. In January 2020 Kitsap Transit and its research project leader met with Rich Passage property owners to discuss the results of measurements taken between 2004 and 2019.


Reliance & Lady Swift

The RP1’s sister ships were built with the RP1’s same ultra-low wake design and were enhanced to reduce vessel noise. Kitsap Transit used the Reliance and Lady Swift to launch two-boat service on the Bremerton/Seattle route in February 2020.

Vessel information

Name: The Reliance and Lady Swift were named after vessels from the Mosquito Fleet era, a period in the late 19th and early 20th century before the automobile when a collection of hundreds of small boats and ferries transported passengers and cargo to locations across the Puget Sound.  
Year Built: 2019 
Route: Bremerton-Seattle
Capacity: 118 passengers, 12 bicycles
Length: 75'
Beam: 27'
Engines: 4
Horsepower: 3,212
Speed (knots): 34 cruising/37 top 

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Finest

After Kitsap Transit bought Finest from New York Waterway in 2018, the ferry was shipped through the Panama Canal and underwent a $7.5 million refurbishment before starting on the Kingston route in late 2018. The Finest was one of hundreds of vessels that assisted in the Great Boatlift on 9/11, in which half a million people were evacuated from Lower Manhattan after the Twin Towers fell following terrorist attacks.

Check out our short documentary on the Finest refurbishment: "Finest: A Ferry Reborn." 

Vessel information

Name: The Finest is named for the New York City Police Department.
Year Built/Refurbished: 1996/2018 
Route: Kingston-Seattle
Capacity: 349 passengers, 10 bicycles
Length: 114'
Beam: 33'
Engines: 2
Horsepower: 5,400
Speed (knots): 30 cruising/32 top

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Enetai and Commander

Kitsap Transit’s two newest ferries were designed and built to fit into the bow-loading slips at the Washington State Ferries dock in Southworth. The ferries also had to be designed to load from the side to board passengers at Pier 50 in Seattle. The vessels are physically identical.

Vessel information

Name: The Enetai and Commander are named after vessels from the Mosquito Fleet era. 
Year Built: 2020 (Enetai) 2021 (Commander)
Route: Southworth-Seattle (Enetai), Kingston-Seattle (Commander)
Capacity: 250 passengers, 26 bicycles
Length: 128'
Beam: 37'
Engines: 2
Horsepower: 6,866
Speed (knots): 35 cruising/37 top

enetai-625px-web.jpg

Photo courtesy of Nichols Brothers Boat Builders


Solano

Kitsap Transit bought the M/V Solano from the San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) in 2021. We plan to refurbish it for use as a spare vessel in our fast-ferry fleet.

Vessel information

Name(s): The Solano is named after Solano County, California, where the Solano spent 15 years shuttling passengers between the city of Vallejo and downtown San Francisco. The county is named after a Native American Chief. 
Year Built: 2004
Route: Southworth
Capacity: 250 passengers, 23 bicycles.
Length: 126'
Beam: 38'
Engines: 2
Horsepower: 6,622
Speed (knots): 30 cruising/32 top

SPACER

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LOCAL FERRIES


Waterman 

The Waterman is the first hybrid-electric ferry to operate commercial passenger service in the Puget Sound. It operates on battery power while idling and loading passengers, reducing cardbon-dioxide emissions and increasing the efficiency of its diesel engine.

Vessel information

Name(s): The Waterman is named after a small unincorporated community in South Kitsap.
Year Built: 2019
Route: Port Orchard-Bremerton
Capacity: 150 passengers, 5 bicycles
Length: 70'
Beam: 26'
Engines: 2
Horsepower: 725
Speed (knots): 10 cruising/15 top

SPACER

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Carlisle II 

The century-old Carlisle II is the oldest continuously operated ferry in the Puget Sound. Built in 1917, it's one of only two operational Mosquito Fleet-era vessels. The Carlisle II recently underwent a $1.5 million renovation that upgraded the ferry with a new engine, generator, propeller, navigation system, planking and windows.

Vessel information

Name(s): The Carlisle II is named after the Carlisle Packing Company, a Bellingham-based salmon cannery that operated in the early 20th Century.  
Year Built/Refurbished: 1917/2021
Route: Port Orchard-Bremerton
Capacity: 140 passengers, 5 bicycles
Length: 60'
Beam: 20'
Engines: 1
Horsepower: 404
Speed (knots): 10 knots

SPACER

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Admiral Pete 

The Admiral Pete has a long history in the Puget Sound, serving both King County Water Taxi and Kitsap Transit’s local ferry routes.

Vessel information

Name(s): Admiral Pete is named after Rear Admiral William F. Petrovic, a naval engineer and former Puget Sound Naval Shipyard commander. Petrovic was informally known as “Admiral Pete.”
Year Built/Refurbished: 1994/2012
Routes: Port Orchard-Bremerton and Annapolis-Bremerton
Capacity: 120 passengers, 5 bicycles
Length: 65'
Beam: 20'
Engines: 2
Horsepower: 810
Speed (knots): 12 cruising/22 top

SPACER

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SPAC

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