The MV ''Coho'' is a passenger and vehicle

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water ta ...

owned and operated by Black Ball Line. Black Ball's only ferry, ''Coho'' carries passengers and cars, motorcycles, trucks,

semi-trailer A semi-trailer is a trailer without a front axle. In the United States, the term is also used to refer to the combination of a truck and a semi-trailer; a tractor-trailer. A large proportion of a semi-trailer's weight is supported by a trac ...

s, bicycles, etc. between Victoria,

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...

, Canada and

Port Angeles Port Angeles ( ) is a city and county seat of Clallam County, Washington, United States. With a population of 19,960 as of the 2020 census, it is the largest city in the county. The population was estimated at 20,134 in 2021. The city's har ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, United States. ''Coho'' makes between two and four round trips from Port Angeles to Victoria daily, with each crossing taking about 90 minutes and covering . The peak summer season has the most trips per day and the winter season the fewest.

Construction and design

''Coho'' was designed by Philip F. Spaulding & Associates, of Seattle and is named after the

coho salmon The coho salmon (''Oncorhynchus kisutch;'' Karuk: achvuun) is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family (biology), family and one of the five Pacific salmon species. Coho salmon are also known as silver salmon or "silvers". The scientif ...

commonly found in the United States'

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Thou ...

. ''Coho'' was the first large vessel built on the West Coast in 20 years solely with private financing. The vessel was built by Puget Sound Bridge & Dry Dock in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

, Washington and made her first sailing to

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

on December 29, 1959. She was originally powered by two

Cooper-Bessemer Cooper-Bessemer refers to the Cooper-Bessemer Corporation and the Cooper-Bessemer brand of industrial engines and compressors, manufactured in Mount Vernon, Ohio. The Cooper-Bessemer Corporation was formed when C. & G. Cooper (founded in 1833) and ...

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-cal ...

s rated at each. In 2004 she was refitted with two V-12 Electro-Motive Division (EMD)12-645F7B diesels rated at each. ''Coho'' has twin stainless propellers with twin rudders. Her overall length is with a service speed of . The ship's vehicle clearance is with a carrying capacity of 110 vehicles and up to 1,000 passengers. The design of ''Coho'' was the basis for that of

BC Ferries British Columbia Ferry Services Inc., operating as BC Ferries (BCF), is a former provincial Crown corporation, now operating as an independently managed, publicly owned Canadian company. BC Ferries provides all major passenger and vehicle ferr ...

' first two ships, the ''Queen of Sidney'' and ''Queen of Tsawwassen''., which developed into the .

Terrorist incident

''Coho'' made news on December 14, 1999, when Ahmed Ressam was arrested by border authorities in Port Angeles after he attempted to enter the United States via Victoria on ''Coho'' with home-made explosives and timing devices hidden in his car. He admitted he and accomplices had planned to bomb

Los Angeles International Airport Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the ...

on New Year's Eve, 1999.

Notes

External links

MV ''Coho'' at Black Ball Ferry Line (official site)M/V ''Coho'' underwayDesigner, builder and owner of M/V ''Coho'' on her bridge during sea trials, 1959
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coho Ferries of Washington (state) Ferries of British Columbia Ships built by Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company Motor vessels of Washington (state) 1959 ships