58
FOGHORN
MEMBER NEWS
W
ashington State Ferries 
(WSF) has put in place 
several workforce develop-
ment programs in recent years. 
Most notably, in February, they wel-
comed the first graduates of their 
licensed deck officer apprenticeship 
program. This program was launched 
in partnership with fellow PVA mem-
ber Maritime Institute of Technology 
and Graduate Studies (MITAGS). It 
is a two-year apprentice program de-
signed specifically for WSF and trains 
people with no maritime experience to 
become mates and captains, which are 
our most needed deck positions. Each 
scholarship covers full tuition, worth 
more than $100,000. Their second 
class will finish in early 2027, and they 
plan to start recruiting the third class 
in the coming months.
In March, WSF hosted nearly 200 
students at their Eagle Harbor Main-
tenance Facility for our fourth annual 
Career Day. The event gives local high 
schoolers a look at maritime job op-
portunities that they can pursue after 
graduation, helping them see a future 
in this field. They learned about the 
jobs on the ferries, at the terminals 
and in the operation’s trades shops. 
Students participate in interactive ac-
tivities, including demonstrations of 
firefighting and life-saving equipment, 
gaining a closer look at what it’s like to 
work in maritime. WSF is committed 
to making these jobs more accessible 
to everyone, including those coming 
straight out of high school. Their goal 
is to offer clear paths to long, reward-
ing careers as the company builds its 
future workforce. 
Members from WSF’s workforce 
outreach team also look beyond their 
region to connect with possible future 
employees. They traveled to New York 
in March, spending a day with Staten 
Island Ferry employees. They toured 
a vessel and their ferry maintenance 
facility, which is similar in many ways 
to WSF’s facility at Eagle Harbor. 
Conversations focused on pathways 
into maritime careers and the shared 
opportunities and pressures ferry sys-
tems face as they plan for the future.
A second day was spent at State Uni-
versity of New York Maritime College 
where the team met with students, 
many of whom are graduating with li-
censes and technical training for vessel 
operations, engineering, and maritime 
logistics. 
MEMBER NEWS
Washington State Ferries Continues 
to Grow its Workforce

View this content as a flipbook by clicking here.