KT ferry crews recognized for commitment to safety

Deckhand Allison Guzman helped prevent a potentially dangerous situation last year after a man attempted to steal the Lady Swift. Guzman and Captain Gus Gengenbach secured the vessel, talked the man down, and kept him occupied while waiting for police to arrive.

For years, we’ve recognized our Routed and ACCESS bus operators for their actions in moments of crisis – employees who go above and beyond their normal responsibilities to ensure our passengers and services are safe.

While our ferry program is much younger, our captains and deckhands are equally as committed to the safety of our passengers. That was especially true last year, when crew members responded to an unprecedented number of these “significant safety events.”

In 2023, our vessel crews assisted a boat owner whose vessel was on fire, de-escalated a situation where a man attempted to steal a fast ferry, assisted in the evacuation of the Washington State Ferries’ (WSF) vessel Walla Walla after it was grounded in Rich Passage, and administered Narcan to a passenger aboard one of our ferries who was experiencing life-threatening symptoms of an opioid overdose.

If that sounds like a lot – it was. We want to recognize 13 of our crew members who stepped up in these instances and helped resolve potentially dangerous situations:

• Gus Gengenbach, Captain

• Allison Guzman, Deckhand

• Mike Wilke, Deckhand

• Alex Beckett, Deckhand

• Axel Kneeshaw, Deckhand

• Taylor LeVeque, Deckhand

• Ellis Johnson, Deckhand

• Dan Barnard, Deckhand

• Hannah Samsen, Deckhand

• Evan Cavalier, Deckhand

• Carl Anderson, Deckhand

• Cameron Hunt, Captain

• Cody Gale, Deckhand

Boat Fire

In April 2023, while working the Port Orchard-Bremerton route, Mike Wilke and Alex Beckett responded to a call of a vessel on fire near the Port Orchard Marina. The two paused service and responded to find the owner of the vessel in a dinghy – which had been disabled due to a line in its propeller – close to the fire. Mike and Alex prepared firefighting equipment, called the fire department and towed the dinghy to safety. They stayed with the vessel owner until a fire department vessel arrived before returning to service. Thank you, Mike and Alex!

Walla Walla grounding

Kitsap Transit’s M/V Commander approaches the Walla Walla on April 15, 2023 (Kristin L. Raught photo).

On April 15, 2023, WSF’s car ferry Walla Walla ran aground in Rich Passage after contaminated fuel caused the failure of two generators.

Kitsap Transit vessels in operation at the time on the Bremerton-Seattle route and Port Orchard-Bremerton route halted service and responded to assist in evacuating the vessel. In total, the Commander and Waterman made four round trips between the Walla Walla and the Bremerton Ferry Dock, transporting 610 people (passengers and crew). After dropping off passengers at the Bremerton Ferry Dock, the Commander made an additional late-night trip to Seattle to assist passengers returning from sporting events and concerts.

Meanwhile, our Operations department called in extra operators and staged extra buses at the Bainbridge Island Ferry Terminal for passengers coming from Seattle and helped transport Walla Walla passengers to their destinations after they were dropped off in Bremerton.

We want to say a huge thank you to our employees working that night (Axel, Taylor, Ellis, Dan, Hannah, Evan and Carl) who helped transfer riders off the Walla Walla and onto the dock in Bremerton safely and professionally.

Deckhand Hannah Samsen, left, helped take passengers from the stranded Walla Walla to Bremerton. Captain Cameron Hunt, right, administered naloxone to a passenger experiencing an opioid overdose.

Attempted theft of the Lady Swift

A little over a week after the Walla Walla grounding, a man was arrested after attempting to steal the Lady Swift from the Bremerton dock. Two Marine Services employees, Gus Gengenbach and Allison Guzman, were instrumental in de-escalating the situation and making sure no one was hurt.

Gus and Allison were pulling the Waterman into the Bremerton dock when they noticed several items from the Lady Swift floating in the water and that the vessel was secured by only one line. The pair docked and offloaded passengers before investigating, where they found a man in the wheelhouse.

The man – who was holding a fire axe – had entered the Lady Swift by breaking a window and had begun starting up some vessel systems, undoing lines and throwing things overboard. Gus spoke with the man and de-escalated the situation, eventually getting him to put down the axe while he maneuvered Lady Swift back to the dock. Allison waited with the man in the main cabin of the vessel, but when she exited to secure the vessel lines, the man once again returned to the wheelhouse and grabbed the axe.

Gus talked to the man again and got him to put down the axe and return to the cabin under Allison’s supervision. They were able to return the vessel to the dock and remain with the man until police arrived.

Both Gus and Allison acted calmly, quickly and courageously. In addition to talking down the man, they were able to operate and secure the vessel safely and prevent what could have been an extremely dangerous situation. Thanks to their efforts, no one was hurt.

Captain Gus Gengenbach helped de-escalate a situation where a man was attempting to steal the Lady Swift.

Passenger overdose

While operating the Admiral Pete, deckhands Cameron Hunt and Cody Gale encountered a passenger who was experiencing life-threatening symptoms of an opioid overdose. Cameron, who carries the overdose-reversing medication naloxone in case of emergencies, administered the drug after calling 911. The passenger recovered and was able to walk off the vessel with Emergency Medical Services. Cody and Cameron saved a passenger’s life thanks to their training and preparation.

Join us in thanking our ferry crews for their work in keeping our passengers and system safe!