Ecuador crew left stranded after failed WA ferry tow detained

Ecuadorian mariners were abandoned without pay

The International Transport Workers Federations says the crew of Ecuadorian mariners tasked with tugging out two retired state ferries were abandoned without pay.

SEATTLE - South American mariners tasked with transporting two retired Washington ferries to Ecuador for scrapping have been detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) after the tow attempt failed.

According to Washington State Ferries (WSF) spokesperson Dana Warr, the crew was hired by the purchaser of the decommissioned ferries, Elwha and Klahowya, to operate the tugboat Wycliffe.

"WSF was not part of hiring the crew, nor should we have been," said Warr. "The crew’s visa status is between the owner/operator who hired the crew and Customs and Border Protection. WSF has, as always, followed every state procurement law regarding surplus state property in selling these vessels that have been decommissioned since 2017 and 2020."

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(International Transport Workers' Federation)

The Wycliffe was left stranded in Seattle's Elliott Bay after the tow equipment malfunctioned. According to the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), the workers were left in squalid conditions for some three months due to visa restrictions, left awaiting a new assignment.

"Being on board something for 90 days in squalor conditions," said Cyrus Denato, an inspector with the ITF Puget Sound, "essentially putting these crew members in a tin coffin."

According to data from VesselFinder, the tugboat itself is as old as the ferries it was scheduled to tow.

"How is it possible that you are physically forced to remain on board on your ship, you cannot step foot on the ground?" said Denato, "It's a childhood game like ‘the floor is lava.’ It's pure insanity."

Denato said he first heard concerns from crews about the conditions on the tug in Fall 2023. A new crew came aboard last spring — and it took them a lack of provisions, pay and some health scares for them to ask for help."

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Julia Cooper with the Seattle Seafarers Center said the crew was clearly intimidated by their Ecuadorian employer.

"[They] seemed hesitant to ask for the help they needed, which really would have been a concern for this 35-day journey," said Cooper.

The vessels, the Klahowya and Elwha, were sold for $100,000 each in a deal that WSF officials describe as a win for taxpayers. FOX 13 Seattle asked WSF if the deal will still move forward with the Ecuadorian recycling plant.

For Washington State Ferries, it's a blunder that is not even their responsibility, but officials still think it makes the struggling agency look even worse.

"It was [a disappointment]. I think mainly, again, I don’t like this whole narrative out there that we’re mismanaging the system, because it kind of made it look like we don’t know what we’re doing," said WSF Assistant Secretary Steve Nevey. "We don’t have anything to do with that ocean tug or the equipment on board or the fact that it failed[…] so it just looks like another thing that Ferries can’t get done — that’s why it was disappointing to me."

"The State still owns the Elwha and Klahowya which are currently moored at WSF’s maintenance facility at Eagle Harbor," said Warr. "We’re waiting on the Coast Guard and purchaser to provide a new tow plan."