Staff ReportsEarly on Thursday morning a 100-foot, crewless vessel drifted straight through the Mukilteo ferry terminal, a sight that could have ended in disaster for commuters and crews. Washington State Ferries posted the eerie video showing the unlit hull sliding by as the Tokitae ferry edged to the dock, and the footage quickly made the rounds across social media and local news.
State ferries warned that an unlit, unmanned ship in a busy channel is not a quirky curiosity but a real hazard, and the Tokitae had to approach the dock very carefully while crew trained to keep passengers safe. That official warning should shame anyone who thinks lax safety is acceptable; navigational lights and basic maritime responsibility are not optional.
Local officials later identified the drifting vessel as the commercial fishing boat Mary B, one of three that broke free from moorings at Sanko Fisheries Pier near Everett, and Coast Guard crews eventually took the boat in tow. This was not a mysterious ghost from the deep — it was the predictable result of slack maintenance and poor oversight of industrial waterfront operations.
Call it negligence or call it a negligence tax on taxpayers: when private operators let large commercial vessels break free and threaten public infrastructure, someone must be held accountable. Local reporting makes clear the incident could have been far worse and that investigations are underway; what we need next is not more bureaucratic hand-wringing but real consequences, stronger mooring inspections, and clear liability for those who put our citizens at risk.
Ordinary people watching the viral video were rightly alarmed, and community discussion shows anger that something so preventable came so close to a catastrophe. Citizens who work hard and pay taxes deserve ferry systems and waterways that are defended by firm rules and enforcement, not treated like an afterthought until the next near-miss makes headlines.
Credit where credit is due: the Tokitae crew and Washington State Ferries employees handled a dangerous situation without injury or damage, and the Coast Guard recovered the drifting craft. Now state and local leaders must stop offering platitudes and start delivering accountability, because public safety and the pocketbooks of hardworking Americans are on the line whenever private operators cut corners.
