Everett, Wash.
Published: Friday, August 4, 2006

State planning four new ferries

Some of the new vessels will carry passengers on the Mukilteo-Clinton route.

Associated Press

 SEATTLE - The state ferry system is seeking proposals for construction of four new vessels for a total of about $321 million, with the first to be ready for service in the fall of 2009.

According to the formal request for design and construction proposals issued Wednesday, each new ferry would be able to carry 144 vehicles and 1,500 passengers, the same number of vehicles and 424 more passengers than the existing Super Class ferries.

"We are pleased to be moving forward," said Mike Anderson, the ferry system's executive director. "The new vessels are urgently needed."

The last new car-and-passenger ferry to go into service in the state fleet was in 1999.

Under state law the vessels must be built in Washington. Officials say three shipyards are technically and financially capable of building the boats - J.M. Martinac Shipbuilding of Tacoma, Nichols Brothers Boat Builders Inc. of Freeland and Todd Pacific Shipyards Corp. of Seattle.

Once the new boats are in service, officials plan to retire the much smaller Steel Electric ferries, the Klickitat, Illahee, Nisqually and Quinault, all built in 1927.

One of the new boats would replace the Kitsap on the Seattle-Bremerton run, boosting capacity, and the others would be split between the Mukilteo-Clinton and San Juan Islands routes. The Kitsap, an Issaquah-class ferry, can accommodate 124 vehicles and 1,200 passengers.

The new boats will be slightly faster, but not enough that any changes in schedules are anticipated, project manager David H. Humphreys told the Kitsap Sun.
© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA