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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   Related Stories • Ferry system finally sells Steel Electrics 6/22/09 • Four old ferries sold for scrap 6/23/09   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Thursday, September 11, 2008 State asks for bids for new ferries for the Whidbey Island to Port Townsend run By Jerry Cornfield Herald Writer OLYMPIA -- Nearly 10 months after yanking its oldest car ferries from service, the state set out Wednesday to find someone to build replacements. Washington State Ferries began soliciting bids for construction of two boats for the route linking Whidbey Island and Port Townsend. The contract, worth an estimated $85 million, aims to get the first boat deployed in April 2010 with the second going into service six months later, said ferries communication manager Marta Coursey. Bids are due Nov. 6 and a contract could be awarded by Nov. 16, she said. "It's a huge move," state Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, said Wednesday during a break in a legislative hearing on the operation and funding of the state ferry system. Rep. Barbara Bailey, R-Oak Harbor, said she is hopeful the process will move forward without delays and that two-boat service will be restored on the route. "It's been a long, difficult and arduous year for those communities and it's time we get a contract," she said outside the hearing. The new boats will replace the Steel Electric-class vessels that ferried cars and passengers on the route for years. Use of those boats ended abruptly in November 2007. State Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond ordered them out of service, citing safety concerns about corrosion and cracks in the 80-year-old hulls of the boats. She also ordered the fleet's two other Steel Electrics removed from use. Her decision meant dramatic change for travelers on the maritime link between Keystone and Port Townsend. For several weeks they had no service at all. Since January, one boat -- a 50-car vessel rented from Pierce County -- has been going back and forth between the two terminals. Under the contract put out to bid Wednesday, the state intends to construct two of the Island Home-class vessels, each capable of carrying roughly 70 cars and trucks. The basic design will be the same as boats running between Woods Hole, Mass., and Martha's Vineyard. Washington State Ferries is seeking modifications in the boat's design partly because of the rougher waters the boats must traverse in the Northwest. Bailey called the changes substantial. Shipyards requested eight weeks to prepare bids -- two weeks longer than ferry officials initially desired. Haugen said she didn't like extending the time. "If you take two weeks longer for the bidding, it will be two weeks longer to finish building," she said. "The riders don't want to wait another two weeks." Meanwhile, the state is still trying to unload all four of its Steel Electrics. In July, the state placed the Nisqually, Quinault, Illahee and Klickitat for sale on eBay with a minimum bid of $350,000 per vessel. No offers came in during the 10-day bidding period. Since then, the state received proposals from three potential buyers. One offer has since been withdrawn and a second is undergoing more review, according to Coursey. Ferry officials met Tuesday with a third interested buyer to discuss details of the offer, she said. Before July, state ferries officials had been told by various maritime experts that each one might fetch up to $475,000 as scrap. Reporter Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com. READER COMMENTS Be the first to comment. You must be a registered user and verify your e-mail address to post comments to blogs or articles on HeraldNet. To register, click here. To read other terms and conditions, click here. Log out

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