MUKILTEO, Wash. - A broken cable shut down the Mukilteo ferry dock for nearly six hours on Sunday.
The closure meant an unscheduled detour for people trying to get to and from Whidbey Island.
The Mukilteo-Clinton ferry ran by way of Edmonds, adding 2-and-a-half hours wait time for one couple trying to get home from Salt Lake City.
"We were very excited to get home early but it didn't happen that way," said Dee Fulcher.
A turnbuckle broke at the Mukilteo dock at about 8:30 a.m., disabling the mechanical apron that connects the dock to the boats.
About four hours later parts arrived on the dock, but not before countless people had to be rerouted.
While Sunday's mishap was a relatively minor problem, it is the latest in a string of problems for the nation's largest ferry system, which serves 24 million people per year.
Late last year, four boats were pulled from service because of safety issues. A rammed dock last month put another ferry out of service, and mechanical issues on that boat's replacement caused even more trouble.
Ferry officials say Sunday's mishap was an isolated event.
"The only thing we can do is apologize for the inconvenience this has caused, and hope people will bear with us, but I don't think this is an indication of any more serious problem than that a cart may have broken and we will as quickly as possible get this repaired," said Susan Harris, a spokesSpambot for the ferry service.
Harris said it's not known how many commuters were affected by the delays.
The dock was repaired and service was restored on Sunday afternoon.
I wonder who got fired here.
