Sometimes it takes a crisis to sink conventional thinking.
Less than a week after the state’s aging Steel Electric ferries were ordered out of service because they were deemed unsafe, an idea has surfaced that never would have stayed afloat until the current emergency: replace the old boats on the Port Townsend-Keystone run with a slightly smaller model that has already been built by Whidbey Island’s own Nichols Bros. Boat Builders and Seattle’s Todd Shipyard.
At a cost thought to be less than $20 million per boat, the state could afford to service the run with three ferries rather than one, making for shorter waiting times, fewer traffic impacts and more options for riders. The boat’s are small enough to maneuver Whidbey Island’s narrow, shallow Keystone Harbor, unlike the larger boats in the state’s fleet.
If a close look at the details shows it’s viable, the idea would not only solve the Port Townsend-Keystone crisis, but could provide a needed lifeline to Nichols Bros., which until it shut down operations earlier this month was the third-largest employer on the island, employing some 250 workers in relatively high-paying jobs. Nichols has since filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and Chief Executive Matt Nichols says the company plans to reopen soon with new backers.
Transportation officials and lawmakers are expressing appropriately cautious optimism, but vow to move ahead quickly to study the idea. It shouldn’t take long — the Steilacoom II, whose design would serve as the template, was christened in January and is currently running in south Puget Sound for Pierce County. Nichols says his company could deliver a new boat within a year.
It would hold 10 fewer cars than the 80-year-old Steel Electrics, 54 rather than 64, and about half as many passengers. But even with just two boats on the run, total daily capacity would increase.
By the time two of the Steel Electrics are repaired sufficiently to return to service, and then only temporarily, their recent repair bills will roughly equal the cost of one new Steilacoom-type ferry.
Assuming the plan proves viable and the state can negotiate a fair deal with one or more of the area’s major ship builders — Nichols, Todd and J.M. Martinac of Tacoma — it should move ahead quickly. New vessels seem a better option than another leading idea — putting the top portions of the Steel Electrics onto new hulls — which could pose technical problems.
And, if it pans out, this idea will serve as a valuable lesson to ferry planners: Don’t wait for a crisis to engage in creative thinking.
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