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By Kitsap Sun Staff

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND — The ferry Wenatchee crashed into the Bainbridge ferry dock Thursday afternoon and will be out of service for at least a week, according to Washington State Ferries.

The much-smaller ferry Tillikum was pressed into service on the Bainbridge-Seattle route starting with the 4:35 p.m. sailing from the island. The Tillikum carries 87 cars and 1,061 passengers and is slower than the newer boats that typically work the Bainbridge run.

A ferry shuffle will be completed in time for the Friday morning commute. The Tillikum will move to the Southworth-Vashon Island-Fauntleroy route; the Kaleetan, currently on the Bremerton route, will move to Bainbridge; and the Kitsap, currently working Southworth, will move to Bremerton.

Nobody was injured when the 12:20 p.m. sailing from Seattle experienced a "propulsion problem" arriving at Bainbridge. Washington State Ferries said the Wenatchee "bumped into" the dock.

Ferries spokesman Ian Sterling said a "glitch" in the Wenatchee's propulsion drive computer was to blame for the incident. Sterling said that the issue didn't allow the crew to stop the vessel in the space they had and that the vessel hit the dock traveling at about 2 knots.

Sterling said that the dock "won" the collision with no damage and that the vessel took some damage in the form of a 12-inch slit, which he called "largely cosmetic." The Wenatchee will be taken out of service until further notice while the slit is patched and the computer problem is diagnosed.