A creepy, black silhouette the size of a small building drifted through the Mukilteo ferry terminal early Thursday, captured on video by Washington State Ferries. The footage shows a 100-foot unmanned vessel sliding past the Tokitae while the ferry trained bright spotlights on the dark hull, a scene that could have ended in disaster if timing or training had been a half-second off.
Credit where it’s due: the Tokitae’s crew handled the situation with calm professionalism and avoided what could have been a catastrophic collision at a busy commuter hub. But good crew performance doesn’t erase the bigger problem — why was a large, unlit boat allowed to wander into one of the region’s most trafficked waterways in the first place?
Officials offered only the usual shrug: an investigation is underway, and speculation floated from weather to mooring failures to derelict debris. That answer is unsatisfying to working people who depend on safe, predictable crossings; Americans don’t want investigations as consolation prizes, they want prevention and accountability.
This incident should force a hard look at our maritime oversight and enforcement. Whether the vessel came loose from a local fish plant, slipped its moorings in a storm, or was an abandoned hazard from somewhere else, the fact remains that government agencies and private owners failed to keep a dangerous object off our shipping lanes.
Washington’s waterfronts are lifelines for commuters and commerce, not places for drifting liabilities. Law-abiding citizens and taxpayers deserve strict enforcement of mooring rules, swift removal of derelicts, and clear chains of responsibility so the next “ghost ship” doesn’t become a headline about bodies or ruined livelihoods.
Let’s be grateful no one was hurt this time, praise the ferry workers who kept people safe, and then demand action from the officials who answer for maritime safety. Hardworking Americans will accept storms and surprises, but not negligence — it’s time for common-sense accountability, not another press release and a shrug.
