The Tillikum entered service in April 1959 for the Seattle–Bainbridge Island route.[1] Upon the delivery of the ferries in 1968, the Tillikum was moved to the Edmonds-Kingston run where it remained until approximately 1980. After being displaced by the ferry in the early 1980s, the Tillikum spent roughly a decade as a relief boat before settling on the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth run in the early 1990s. The Tillikum has become a reserve vessel since the delivery of the in 2015. Since the retirement of her sister in 2017, she has been serving primarily as the San Juan Inter-island vessel.