PORT TOWNSEND — The new state ferry that will sail out of Port Townsend and help reduce a bottleneck between the North Olympic Peninsula and Whidbey Island will make its inaugural run Aug. 29, the state Department of Transportation announced Thursday.
The 64-car MV Chetzemoka, built in Seattle and now being outfitted in Everett, will make largely ceremonial runs across Admiralty Inlet between Port Townsend and Whidbey Island on that Sunday debut date.
Then the first state ferry of the 21st century will begin regular service the next day, state Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond said.
The $65.5 million vessel will replace the smaller, leased Steilacoom II, which has been plying the route since early 2008 — about two months after Hammond yanked the four octogenarian and leaking Steel Electric class ferries from the fleet.
Those ferries have since been sold for scrap and dismantled in Mexico.
But the single Steilacoom II, leased from Pierce County and meant for calmer waters than those between Port Townsend and Keystone, has often been grounded, creating a bottleneck for state Highway 20 between the Peninsula and Whidbey.
Also, the petite ferry has left cars and passengers at the dock.
A state ferry reservation service used for the route shows the small ferry almost fully booked for vehicles for this Independence Day weekend.
Special activities
In a statement issued late Thursday afternoon, Washington State Ferries said it will host welcoming activities on Whidbey Island, in Port Townsend and aboard the Chetzemoka on Aug. 29.
However, details of the events were not disclosed because they’re still in the planning phase, according to a spokeswoman for the agency.
But one of the participants will probably be Gov. Chris Gregoire.
“The launching of the Chetzemoka represents our commitment to maintaining a world-class ferry system that thousands of Washingtonians depend on every day to move them across Puget Sound,” Gregoire said in Thursday’s statement.
Hammond added: “We can be assured that the Chetzemoka will restore much needed reliable ferry service critical to the economic prosperity of the Port Townsend and Keystone communities.”
Two more vessels
She noted that construction of a second ferry to coincide with the Chetzemoka is under way, and a third is on the drawing boards.
Dockside training on the Chetzemoka in Everett is due to start mid-month, and full crew and vessel training will start in late July before placing the vessel into service at the end of August, Hammond said.
Washington State Ferries awarded the $65.5 million contract for construction of the Chetzemoka to Todd Pacific Shipyards of Seattle in December 2008.
Subcontractors are Everett Shipyard, Nichols Brothers Boat Builders and Jesse Engineering.
More information about the Chetzemoka and the other new Kwa-di Tabil Class ferries is available at http://tinyurl.com/27fxjkd.