1The 64-car ferry’s superstructure and hull has been under construction full-wing since April at Todd Pacific Shipyards in Seattle, Nichols Brothers Boat Builders in the Whidbey Island community of Freeland, the Everett Shipyard and Jesse Engineering in Tacoma, with specialized components and supplies coming from hundreds of subcontractors and suppliers.
Contract for 2 more
Washington State Ferries is pursuing a contract for two additional 64-car ferries with an option to purchase a fourth 64-car ferry. The ferry system will pursue procurement of a 144-car ferry instead of a fourth 64-car ferry if sufficient funding is available.
Bids on the second 64-car ferry earmarked for the Port Townsend-Keystone route will be opened Oct. 8, with a contract award coming after ferries officials review and recommend the contract to award.
Late 2010
Tentatively, ferries officials said the second vessel is expected to be completed by late summer 2010.
There are 20 auto-passenger ferries in the state ferries fleet, with nine of them between 40 and 65 years old.
David Moseley, deputy transportation secretary for ferries, said the vessels must be replaced in the next 20 years to improve safety, efficiency and reliability for passengers.
State ferries has been leasing the 50-car Steilacoom II from Pierce County since January 2008, but it is often left moored at the dock during winter months by bad weather and rough seas on Admiralty Inlet.
The first ferry project — which media, government and ship builders toured Thursday in Todd Pacific Shipyards on Harbor Island — began in design after the contract was awarded in December to Todd and given the go-ahead in January.
Based on Island Home
While the ferry’s design is based on the Island Home, a ferry operating in Massachusetts, Todd CEO stresses that its redesign ordered by the state is a far cry from the Island Home.
He calls it the 64-car ferry until the state officially names it.
A group of Port Townsend residents, spearheaded by the Jefferson County Historical Society, is advocating naming the new ferry after Chetzemoka, the S’Klallam chief who signed the 1855 Point No Point Treaty.
Delegating tasks
While Todd is building the hull infrastructure at its yard, Nichols Brothers Boat Builders is constructing the two pilothouses and passenger cabin while Everett Shipyard is building the “curtain plate” or sides of vessel.
Jesse Engineering is building the hull ends for what will be a nearly 274-foot-long vessel capable of carrying up to 750 passengers and 64 cars.
The vessel’s beam will be 64 feet.
The Port Townsend-Keystone ferry, the first to be built for the state since 1999, will be powered by diesel engines capable of cruising at 15.5 knots, or about 18 mph.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.s