PDN news sources
SEATTLE – Washington State Ferries today said it is rejecting a $26 million bid from Todd Pacific Shipyards to build a 50-car ferry using the design of the Steilacoom II now on the Port Townsend-Keystone route.
Todd was the sole bidder, and said it needed roughly $9 million more than state engineers estimated as the cost for the new boat.
Too much, said David Moseley, the head of Washington State Ferries, and the agency needs to work with Washington shipyards to seek new bids that will bring down the price tag.
By law, state ferries must be built at shipyards in the state.
Moseley acknowledged today that state engineers might have underestimated the actual cost of building the ferry when calling for bids. Some changes to the vessel’s design sought by ferries’ engineers contributed to the higher cost, Moseley said. Todd also estimated that it would take 200,000 work hours to construct the vessel — 42 percent more than state engineers calculated .
“That translates into almost $4 million right there,” Moseley said.
The Steilacoom II is currently under lease to the state from Pierce County. But there have been some questions about the craft’s ability to handle the rough seas across Admiralty Inlet.
A full report appears in the Friday/Saturday editions of the Peninsula Daily News.
