The process to get more ferries into Washington state is floating along, with the state signing a contract with shipyard Eastern Shipbuilding for three new hybrid-electric ferries this month.
It will take another year for the state to finalize the design of the electric ferry with the company, and then a handful of years to construct the vessel. Washington State Ferries estimates the first of the new ferries will be in service by fall of 2030.
Running electric ferries will save the state money on fuel. When the ferries are running in hybrid mode, they’ll save the state $1.6 million per ferry per year, according to John Vezina, the assistant secretary for Washington State Ferries. When they're running fully electric, the savings will be $8 million per vessel per year.
Those estimates are based on diesel costing about $2 per gallon. But recently, the price for diesel has been more than double that, meaning the savings could be even more.
“We're really excited about that, and the ancillary benefit, obviously, of not spewing greenhouse gas emissions to the greatest extent,” Vezina said.
The state Legislature set aside $1.7 billion for Washington State Ferries to build as many new vessels as possible. They settled on a contract with Florida-based Eastern Shipbuilding, which will get the state three hybrid-electric ferries.
Going with a company based out of state is an about-face from old state policy that said ferries had to be built in-state. But the Legislature changed that rule.
When the Legislature made that change, they still kept an advantage for in-state shipbuilders. According to Gov. Bob Ferguson, in-state bidders get a 13% bid credit, which means that when Washington State Ferries is evaluating who the lowest bidder is, they must consider an in-state builder’s bid as 13% lower than it actually is.
When the state solicited bids for electric ferries, two companies were competing: one in Washington and one in Florida.
“For this bid, Eastern [Shipbuilding] was clearly the best option to build these vessels at a fair cost to taxpayers,” Ferguson said. “We still need 13 more ferries by 2040 to replace our aging fleet. I hope local builders sharpen their pencils and make their bids far more competitive next time.”
The first ferry of the three ferries is going to cost about $400 million. But Vezina said the price will go down as the process gets more efficient.
Eventually, when the ferries are complete, Vezina said they will be delivered to Washington through the Panama Canal. The vessels will either be placed on a larger boat or the open ends will be sealed and the ferries will sail through the canal.
When the new ferries do go into service, they will be on the Mukilteo-Clinton route.
The state recently converted one of its largest ferries to be a hybrid-electric ferry, the Wenatchee, was put back in service this year.
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