PORT TOWNSEND — Todd Pacific Shipyards’ chief executive officer expects to sign a contract to build a 64-car, 750 passenger Port Townsend-Keystone ferry before Christmas.
The company then would immediately launch into the vessel’s design phase, which could take between four and six months, said Steve Welch, Todd Pacific CEO and chairman.
Actual construction work on the vessel, based loosely on the East Coast Island Home, at the Harbor Island-based shipyard in Seattle is not expected to begin until June, he said.
“We’re in the mobilization stage here, where we are trying to decide on all the requirements we have, and then get them prioritized,” Welch said.
The state’s fast-track 18-month schedule — combined with a number of extensive changes in the original Island Home-model and the soaring cost of commodities such as steel and copper — led to the $65.5 million price tag for the ferry, he said.
“All the raw materials of a ship have increased incredibly,” Welch said.
Given the modifications proposed in the extensive contract, he said, “We don’t even call it an Island Home. We call it the 64-car ferry.
Welch didn’t know if union labor overtime would be required to complete the job in the 18-month schedule. He said the planning was not yet at that level of detail.
Other estimates
A state Department of Transportation engineer’s estimate on the project was $95,943,865 for two vessels and $49,452,894 for one.
The state Legislature had budgeted $84.5 million, asking for two vessels with the option of building a third.
The work schedule for the 64-car vessel would normally take about two years, without the fast-track requirement, Welch said.
Gov. Chris Gregoire put that requirement in place after state Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond pulled the 80-year-old Steel Electric ferries from the Port Townsend-Keystone route on Nov. 20, saying the vessels were unsafe. The Steel Electrics are now headed to the scrap yard.
Because Todd was signing on with a state contract the company must adhere to strict requirements.
“We had to meet financial assurance requirements so the taxpayers protected,” Welch said. “We had to meet the union apprentices requirement.
“The state has protections in place that it thinks are appropriate. It has a very extensive contract.
By most people’s assessments, it is a very onerous contract.”
Not the Island Home
“At one point in time we hoped to use the detailed design work that was used on the Island Home,” Welch said of the original plans created by Seattle’s Elliott Bay Design.
“But we concluded that the changes are such that we were better off, rather than starting to reconcile all differences and chasing each change, we decided it was probably safer and faster to redo the entire design.”
He said he expects that engineering flaws may arise because the state is allowing only one vessel to be built, without additional copies in which errors could be corrected.
As planned, the state would have the bow modified to the standard Washington state ferry “pickle-fork” design to create a better line of sight from the pilot house, and to improve clearance for over-height vehicles at low tide.
An additional 20 feet mid-body section has been added to accommodate additional sewage and fuel tank capacities.
Bow doors will not be necessary on the Port Townsend-Keystone route, state ferries officials said.
One of the mezzanine passenger areas in the original Island Home design has been converted to a bike holding area.
Once the contract is signed, Welch said, the functional design and the detailed design will be drawn up.
Functional design, he explained, lays out major systems on the vessel so that all functions are addressed, including drinking water, fuel, propulsion, lighting and alarms.
The detailed design determines where those systems should be located on the vessel, such as steel pipes and ventilation.
Todd last built three Jumbo Mark II class ferries for the state between 1995 and 1999, the Tacoma, the Puyallup and the Wenatchee, all 202-car vessels.
The 64-car Port Townsend-Keystone ferry should be in the water by May 2010.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
