PORT TOWNSEND – The Port Townsend-Keystone route, which lost its 80-year-old Steel Electric ferries in late 2007, will have another two-boat run of 64-car ferries in late 2011, now that the state has awarded a contract to Todd Pacific Shipyards.
On Tuesday, the state Department of Transportation’s Ferries Division awarded a contract to Todd Pacific Shipyards to build two additional 64-car ferries — one for the Port Townsend-Keystone ferry route, with construction to begin early next year.
The shipyard submitted the $114 million bid for the two ferries Thursday.
Todd, the lone bidder, is now constructing the first of the new 64-car class of ferries at its Harbor Island ship yard in Seattle, along with three other companies, under a $65.5 million contract.
The first ferry is expected to be launched in June for sea trials through August.
The additional 64-car ferries will be similar in design to the one now under construction, with capacity for up to 750 passengers.
The next steps include a signed contract and contract security returned from Todd Shipyards.
Once those documents are received, the state will issue a notice to proceed with construction.
The schedule for vessel construction is about 20 months each for the second and third vessels.
“This contract award is expected to sustain nearly 400 family wage jobs,” said Gov. Chris Gregoire in a prepared statement Tuesday.
“These locally built ferries will improve the reliability of auto-passenger ferry service to the communities they will serve.”
Share the work
It is likely that Todd will share the work again to expedite construction of the second and third 64-car ferries, Todd representatives said.
Also involved in Todd’s ferry-construction team are Nichols Brothers Boat Builders of Freeland on Whidbey Island, which is building the pilot houses and the superstructure that will include the passenger cabin above the deck, and Everett Shipyard, which is building the vessel’s mezzanine section and curtain plates, the sides of the vessel.
Jesse Engineering of Tacoma is building the ferry’s steering compartments at both ends of the vessel.
Combined, the ship-building companies are racing to meet the state’s June 20, 2010 deadline.
Such “modularized construction” is the way ship construction is done today, Todd officials said.
Washington State Ferries must exercise the option to construct the third vessel in the contract — the fourth overall — no later than May 31, 2011.
The fourth vessel would be either a 64-car ferry or 144-car ferry, depending on the availability of funds through the state Legislature.
David Moseley, assistant transportation secretary, for the state Department of Transportation Ferries Division, said state ferries preferred building three 64-car ferries and two 144-car vessels but may have to settle for a fourth 64-car vessel, depending on how the state Legislature allocates funding.
First award in December
Washington State Ferries awarded a contract to Todd to construct the first 64-car ferry in December 2008. That vessel is scheduled to go into service on the Port Townsend/Keystone route in late-summer 2010.
Todd’s lone bid on the 64-car vessel proposal in December 2008 came in $40 million over budget to build two Island Home-style ferries for the Port Townsend-Keystone route. The state originally rejected it, but later cut back the project to one ferry.
Last week, Todd also offered a bid that factored in the third optional ferry. The total bid was for $164.9 million. That came in under the state estimate of $178.45 million.
In that latest bid, the figure for a third 64-car ferry was $50.8 million compared to the state estimate of $68.6 million.
Port Townsend was left with one-ferry service, the 50-car Steilacoom II leased from Pierce County after Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond nearly two years ago pulled the 80-year-old Steel Electric ferries off the route, saying their pitted and corroded hulls made them unsafe.
Work on the new ferry began in May after it was designed to ply the often-rough waters of Admiralty Inlet and be small enough to land at the narrow Keystone ferry dock on Whidbey Island.
“I greatly appreciate the governor’s leadership as we move forward on the ambitious construction of these new vessels,” Moseley said.
“Constructing these ferries brings us closer to creating a ferry system that meets the needs of our customers throughout Puget Sound.”
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
