Alaska ferry evacuated in Washington because of black smoke in thruster room

An Alaska Marine highway ship, the M/V Columbia, was evacuated in Bellingham, Washington, on Friday because the crew discovered smoke in the bow-thruster room after the vessel had docked, state officials reported.

About 100 passengers, the crew and many cars were evacuated, said Aurah Landau, a spokeswoman the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities.

"The vessel was carrying 190 passengers and about 128 cars when it landed in Bellingham," Landau said in an email. "Roughly half of (those passengers and cars) had already gotten off before the evacuation started."

"All passengers are accounted for and there were no injuries," a statement from the agency said.

The smoke, but not flames, was discovered after docking early Friday morning, according to a statement from the agency.

A firefighting system on the ship was immediately deployed and passengers were able to walk off the ship safely. The Alaska Marine Highway System is investigating the cause of the smoke.

"Updates will be made as information is available and all passengers will be notified should the Columbia need to change sailing schedule," the agency's statement said.

The Alaska Marine Highway's state-owned ferries cover 3,500 miles of coastline from Bellingham to Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands.

The 418-foot-long Columbia is the largest vessel in the fleet. It can carry about 500 passengers, and more than 100 vehicles.

A schedule update should be available this afternoon, Landau said.

"We don't know what happened," she said. "We haven't been able to get into the bow-thruster room to see.

"We're waiting for the (carbon-dioxide firefighting) system to clear out, then we'll assess, find out what happened, and from there we'll know what the delay impacts will be."

She said the agency called out the Bellingham Fire Department, in case there had been a fire.