Updates!
It’s all in the fine print…
If you’ve been following the progress of the new ferries, which WSF desperately needs since shall we say two dowagers of the fleet could potentially be one bad Coast Guard inspection away from being yanked from service ala the Steel Electrics (cough cough Yakima, cough cough Kaleetan) and with my beloved Spokane getting her gold stripe for 50 years of service (just like the author here) this little tidbit might come as a surprise, since we’ve been led to believe that construction was going to start this year:
Spring 2022 Electrification Update.…WSF has nearly completed the functional design for hybrid electric Olympic class, through a contract with Vigor ship builders. This design work will be the basis for construction of five new vessels, each with capacity for 144 vehicles. WSF will seek competitive bids to build the hybrid electric Olympic Class vessels. For these new vessels, WSF believes that this bidding opportunity, along with plans for 11 future vessels, will generate considerable interest from the maritime industry to build these vessels in Washington state. WSF is poised to launch this Request for Proposal process in summer 2022. We look forward to securing a partner to work on this exciting project and build five new hybrid electric vessels in the state of Washington as soon as possible.
Huh? Wasn’t this already bid out? Wasn’t construction supposed to START this summer? If you don’t believe me, check just about every news story on the project for the last few years. Now we’re requesting bids? And from WHO, exactly? Vigor is the only yard in Washington State that can build vessels of this size–unless Dakota Creek can, and I’ll admit I don’t know on that.
How far back does this put the project? Say best case and they can start by the end of the year–and that is a HUGE best case. We’re talking 2025 probably at the earliest, most likely 2026, by which time another ferry is going to be joining Club 50 and another, the Tillikum, which at sixty-three is already on borrowed time, is supposed to be retired by then. The boats are wearing out faster than we can replace them. WSF may be rebuilding the work force, and kudos on them for that, but we’re going to run out of boats before we run out of people. As much as I want these boats built in Washington, it might be time to rethink that edict, given that there seems to be only one yard in Washington that can build them from keel to funnel. Doesn’t exactly lend itself to competitive bidding.
This was a rush job, so sorry for the sloppiness, but, starting at the top left, we have Chetzemoka (I), Chippewa, Crosline, Enetai, Illahee, Kalakala, Kehloken, Kitsap (I), Klahanie, Klickitat, Leschi, Nisqually, Quinault, Rosario, San Mateo, Shasta, Skansonia, Vashon, and Willapa–19 in total. It wasn’t enough, particularly since the Rosario was ditched in the fall of ’51. WSF soon picked up the Olympic and Rhododendron within a few years, and the Evergreen State hit the water in 1954, bringing the total number of vessels to 21. The Klahowya and Tillikum were added in 1958 and 1959 and it still wasn’t enough.
For reasons I have never been able to find out, (other than the Chinook, which is obvious) Captain Peabody kept the Bainbridge, Quillayute, and City of Sacramento. He would use these four vessels, with the addition of the Smokwa to start ferry service from Horseshoe Bay in Canada.
Interesting to note, WSF’s current fleet count? 21. (And tick, tick, tick, on that number, BTW.) What’s actually needed? 25, 26. Let’s get building, shall we? In the meantime–Happy Birthday!
Call me a Healthy Skeptic…
But I’ve seen where this kind of thing ends up. Still, good luck, Malaspina!
Meanwhile, from our neighbors to the north…
Lomaiviti Princess 5, aka Queen of Nanaimo, has been beached at Alang, that famous ship breaking graveyard in India. Alang also took care of the Queen of Victoria and, more recently, the Alaska State ferry Taku.
Meanwhile, B.C. Ferries has a staffing issue just like Washington State, though they’re offering a hefty signing bonus to attract skilled workers. How much? 10K.
In the “we want to increase our revenue”, B.C. Ferries is also expanding the sale of wine and beer on the boats, something that is being met with a little controversy. WSF has been doing so for decades with, as far as I am aware, no problems.
Black Ball had once allowed for alcohol sales on the ferries, but suspended the practice during WWII when some shipyard workers got a little rowdy and set fire to a chair one of their sleeping coworkers was sitting in. That embargo lasted until state ownership, and even then a few more decades went by until sales began again in the 1970’s.
Bet they get their electric ferry first…
Okay, not nearly the scale of an electric Olympic Class, but still, I bet Skagit County gets their electric ferry well before WSF takes delivery of their first electric vessel.
The project is now fully funded, thanks to the legislature’s transportation package.
Incidentally, the age of the ferry they’re replacing? Currently 42 years old.
2 Comments
Mark Stearns · June 6, 2022 at 5:26 pm
With the need for healthy vessels, and the work horses in the Super and Issaquah class breaking down wit ever increasing frequency, I find it interesting 3 of the four of the states newest ferries are in indefinite layup. The Chimacum has been “out of service” for months. The Suquamish is also sitting in Eagle Harbor, while the Tokitae has also been in the shop more often then on a route lately. What’s happening with these new vessels?
Congratulations to the Spokane for getting her gold ring. She is clearly my favorite vessel in the fleet for many reasons. It all started when Ralph E. White sent me a set of blueprints for her back in 1974. WHAT A GIFT!
Chinooksteve · June 6, 2022 at 6:26 pm
Reduction gears is the problem on the Olympics. I’ve been told it is due to unforeseen problem with vibration on the boats.
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