TOKITAE

CLASS: Olympic

BUILT: 2014, Vigor Industrial Shipyards, Seattle, WA

OFFICIAL NUMBER: 1251144     CALL SIGN: WDH3588

L/B/D: 362 x 83 x 24 GROSS/NET TONS: 9292/3633 PASSENGERS/AUTOS: 1500/144

PROPULSION: 2 x EMD 12-710G7C Diesel Engines SPEED: 17 knots

NAME TRANSLATION: Chinook, “nice day, pretty colors.”

FINAL DISPOSITION: In service, 2024.

HISTORY

Beating out several other names, the first of the Olympic Class ferries was christened Tokitae in November of 2012. The name honors not only the century-old tradition of naming ferries on Puget Sound with Chinook/Native American names, but also the Orca whale captured off Whidbey Island in the 1970’s.The whale, since renamed Lolita, is still held captive at the Miami Seaquarium and there is a vocal contingent of people calling for Tokitae/Lolita’s return to the wild, particularly given the endangered state of the local orca population on Puget Sound.

After a seventy-five day delay due to tweaks and change orders, the Tokitae was finally accepted by the state in early June of 2014.  She immediately began sea trials, but it was clear that with the late acceptance date the vessel was not going to make it for the start of summer schedule on June 15th, 2014.

Meanwhile, a highly successful open house was held, attracting some 800 people to tour the vessel. 

Reviews were mostly positive, with much praise being given to the room interior and the cavernous car deck. The interior of the boat, given the recent refurbishment to vessels in the fleet, was surprisingly bland. Tan and gray have been used throughout, hearkening back to the utilitarian original interiors of the Super Class (which the Hyak sported her entire career).

A short delay was announced…only to be punted again by the state as captains and crews requested

more time to break in the vessel and get more training on the new vessel. This was granted, and an official start date was not announced.

In the end, the Tokitae arrived fifteen days late—not too bad for the first of a brand-new class and a brand-new boat.

It wasn’t long after she went into service that a flaw was discovered. The sharp transition of the upper ramps caused cars to bottom out driving up the ramp. This flaw had been pointed out to management at the time but was ignored. As a result, the vessel had to be pulled from service while repairs were made to fix the flaw.

The Tokitae is permanently assigned to the Mukilteo run, working alongside the Kittitas.  In the summer of 2019 she was joined by younger sister Suquamish.