SEATTLE — Washington State Ferries canceled or reduced service across Puget Sound on Monday after 23 engine-room employees called in sick, leaving 13 of the system’s 18 operating vessels out of service at one point. Gov. Bob Ferguson said he expected every ferry and route to be operating by the first sailing Tuesday. The cancellations stranded or delayed riders on routes serving Fauntleroy, Bainbridge Island, Kingston, Bremerton, Vashon Island and the San Juan Islands. The state ferry agency said it sought qualified relief workers to cover the vacancies, but none of the employees eligible to step in accepted. Ferries cannot sail without the required engine-room crew, the agency said. By Monday afternoon, Seattle-Bainbridge, Edmonds-Kingston and Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth remained suspended. Mukilteo-Clinton and Seattle-Bremerton were running one boat each, with an estimated two-hour wait for drivers at Mukilteo. In the San Juan Islands, the Chelan and Yakima were expected to offer limited evening service, while later Samish sailings were canceled. Ferguson met Monday with leaders of the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association, the union representing the engineers. He said staffing concerns were discussed but criticized the disruption’s impact on riders, saying cancellations were not an acceptable way to address workplace issues. Union Secretary-Treasurer Roland “Rex” Rexha said MEBA had not organized a job action and described the call-outs as uncoordinated. He said the system’s dependence on overtime reflects a shortage of marine engineers that predates Ferguson’s administration. Rexha said one union member had worked more than 1,800 overtime hours in the past year, while members collectively logged more than 100,000 hours of overtime to cover staffing shortages. He said a single employee’s absence — or even 23 absences — should not be enough to shut down a service people depend on. The dispute also surfaced disagreements over compensation. Washington State Ferries highlighted staff chief engineers’ base salary of $157,000 and said overtime can push annual earnings above $350,000. Rexha said those figures omit the credentials and years of experience required for the positions. He also argued the agency had not properly completed a state-required prevailing-wage survey and that comparable mariners can earn more elsewhere. Rexha said the union shared the governor’s goal of restoring reliable, safe service, but did not guarantee every route would be running Tuesday morning. The agency urged passengers to check its travel alerts and real-time map before leaving for a terminal.