The state’s largest ferry, the 418-foot-long Columbia, will miss at least two round-trip voyages between Bellingham, Washington, and Southeast Alaska, due to a damaged bow-thruster engine exhaust system, canceling—or at least changing—the plans of hundreds of travelers, many with cars, trucks or recreational vehicles.

Smoke from a backed-up exhaust system prompted evacuation of the ship soon after it docked at Bellingham on June 29. Alaska Marine Highway System management canceled the Columbia’s weekly run north for later that day, and four days later, despite aggressive repair efforts, also dropped the July 6 sailing.

“The Columbia is projected to resume its schedule upon leaving Bellingham on July 13,” the ferry system announced mid-day Tuesday, dependent on successful repairs. 

“The Columbia needs significant repairs, which will require the manufacturing of new bow-thruster exhaust system components,” the announcement said.

“The repairs are turning out to be very challenging,” said Aurah Landau, spokesperson for marine highways. “The damage is quite extensive to the exhaust system of the turbocharger.” Making the repairs even harder, it’s difficult for crews to work in the tight area.

One of the valves on the exhaust system hadn’t closed properly, Landau explained Tuesday, with hot gases backflowing and creating pressure, damaging the turbocharger unit that is fired up to add an extra boost of power for the bow thrusters when the ferry is maneuvering.

Crew discovered the smoke soon after the Columbia had tied to the dock in Bellingham, unloading passengers and vehicles. The entire ship was evacuated as a precaution. There were no flames, and no one was injured.

The state flew in parts and technicians from Texas, Landau said, and got a break on replacing the damaged turbocharger. “The marine highway happened to have an extra … they just dropped it in.” But the work was too extensive to save the July 6 voyage.

Work had been underway with the ship tied up at the Bellingham ferry terminal, but plans changed Tuesday and the ferry had to move to Bellingham’s Fairhaven Shipyard. In addition to needing the services of a shipyard, the Columbia needed to move because the state ferry Kennicott is scheduled to dock at the terminal July 7.

The Alaska Marine Highway reported it does not have any available ships to cover for the Columbia’s Bellingham-to-Southeast runs, adding that it “recognizes the cost, inconvenience and disruption to travelers, and apologizes to affected passengers and ports.”

The ferry system, however, is able to add an extra Juneau-Sitka round trip sailing of the shuttle ferry Fairweather on July 10 to accommodate passengers affected by the cancellations. The Fairweather’s car deck is about one-quarter the capacity of the mainline ferry.

The Columbia’s canceled June 29 voyage disrupted travel plans for about 300 passengers and a full car deck of vehicles booked to leave Bellingham, Landau said. It was heavily booked for the upcoming holiday week, one of the busiest weeks of the year for the ferry system.

The July 6 sailing also had bookings for a full car deck, and was nearly full to its 409-passenger capacity, Landau said. Everyone holding a reservation will get a phone call from ferry system employees.

Of those booked for the June 29 voyage, some drove to Alaska instead, some canceled their trips, and some postponed for a week, hoping to catch the next weekly sailing out of Bellingham, Landau said.

The Columbia’s run from Bellingham includes stops in Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, Juneau, Haines and Skagway, before turning around to head back south, adding a stop in Sitka.

The passenger numbers for the two canceled Bellingham departures do not count the bookings for people and vehicles with reservations to board during the voyage through Southeast.