The Suquamish’s 1,110-ton superstructure, which took 18 months to construct at Jesse Engineering in Tacoma, arrived in Seattle on Aug. 17. The superstructure, which makes up the “top half” of the ferry, arrived at Vigor shipyard where it was joined to its hull during a roughly 12-hour process on Aug. 18.
The 144-car Suquamish will join the Washington State Ferries fleet in fall 2018 and, starting in 2019, operate on the Mukilteo-Clinton route from mid-May until mid-October, when ferry travel is at its peak. The rest of the year, it will serve multiple routes as a maintenance relief boat for both the Super class and other Olympic class ferries.
Olympic-class ferries are the fourth-largest vessels in the state’s fleet. The Suquamish will be the fourth such vessel in the fleet.
The new ferry will join the Mukilteo route as construction continues on a new $134.7 million ferry terminal. The new terminal is expected to open in December 2019.
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