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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   Related Stories • Four old ferries sold for scrap 6/23/09   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Friday, December 7, 2007 Cost to fix aging ferries higher than expected By Scott North Herald Writer SEATTLE -- There is more bad news for Washington State Ferries. Emergency repair work on the ferries Quinault and Illahee has turned up more problems than expected, and fixing the 80-year-old vessels is now expected to take more time and cost millions of dollars more than even recently estimated, said Traci Brewer-Rogstad, the department's deputy executive director. The state had hoped to have the two Steel Electric-class vessels returned to service by February. That now appears unlikely because of the scope of the work, Brewer-Rogstad said late today. There are additional complications, because the ferries, now in dry dock at Todd Pacific Shipyards on Harbor Island in Seattle, must be out by the end of January to make room for other previously scheduled projects at the shipyards. "It's a bigger problem and we don't have answers right now," Brewer-Rogstad said. State lawmakers and others are expected to soon discuss the policy implications of continuing to try to repair the aging ferries, including the rising costs, she said. The state already has spent roughly $4 million on emergency repairs to the Steel Electrics this year and anticipated spending another $4 million to repair the Quinault and Illahee. The costs for repairing the additional problems is expected to be significant, Brewer-Rogstad said, adding that one of the decisions facing the state is "ultimately, when do you say when?" The Steel Electrics are the oldest ferries operating in salt water in the nation. Corrosion problems in the hulls on Nov. 20 prompted state Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond to order all four of the aging vessels tied up to undergo inspection and repairs. The decision, on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday traffic rush, forced the ferry system to close down the Keystone-to-Port Townsend run. It has since reopened for passenger-only service.

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