Latest news with #WashingtonStateFerries
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
High costs may force WA ferry electrification program off course
Washington State Ferries said it would deploy its new electric ferries first on the Mukilteo-Clinton run. The short route is currently served by diesel ferries like the Tokitae, seen here approaching Whidbey Island. (Photo by Tom Banse) Washington aspires for its largest-in-the-nation fleet of passenger ferries to operate reliably and emission-free by 2050. To get there, the plan is to convert six existing vessels to hybrid-electric power, build 16 new plug-in boats, and add shore charging to 16 terminals — all by 2040. But only one conversion is done. And neither new vessels nor electrified terminals are expected to be operational before the end of the decade. With projects taking longer and costing more than expected, achieving the ambitious mid-century goal for the ferry system looks increasingly unattainable. 'We can't do everything we want to do. We can't buy everything we want to buy, so let's talk about the priorities,' said Rep. Jake Fey, D-Tacoma, chair of the state House Transportation Committee, ahead of a work session Tuesday on where things stand in the ferry agency's pursuit of electrification. Rep. Andrew Barkis, R-Olympia, the lead Republican on the committee, agreed after the meeting. 'We need to sit down and review this whole thing — how we're doing this, why we're doing this — for the next 20 years for Washington State Ferries,' he said. Conversion of the Wenatchee, a Jumbo Mark II-class vessel with a 202-car capacity, is done and it returns to service Thursday, a year later than expected. Its $133 million cost is much more than originally budgeted. Planned conversions of two other boats are on hold indefinitely. A week ago, Gov. Bob Ferguson announced he'd accepted Florida-based Eastern Shipbuilding Group's bid to build three new hybrid electric ferries. The first one — at a total cost of about $405 million — is expected to be delivered in about five years. The large price tags and long timelines are stirring conversations among lawmakers and with the governor on how they can erase Washington State Ferries' carbon wake, given limited resources and high demand for service. 'The path from here to there is going to be a little more unpredictable and bumpy, but we're going to get there,' said Sen. Marko Liias, D-Edmonds, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee. 'We're headed in the right direction.' Liias said he's ready to focus on procuring new boats and using cleaner, renewable diesel to fuel existing ones, and pause converting existing boats to electric power for the time being. A new boat will be in use for 60 years while a converted one gains an estimated 25 years of service, he said. Adding new vessels and switching the entire fleet to cleaner-burning diesel could get the state to 90% of its emission reduction goal by 2050, he postulated. 'We need to be more eyes wide open after what we've seen with the Wenatchee,' he said. 'We want to see cleaner air, but we can't write a blank check.' The cost-benefit of converting the jumbo ferry came up late in Tuesday's work session State ferry officials estimated $96 million of the $133 million total could be viewed as directly related to changing the vessel to a hybrid-electric. Though the amount would be less when factoring in savings from buying less diesel fuel when operating on battery power, they said. Rep. Adam Bernbaum, D-Port Angeles, vice chair of the transportation committee, wanted to know what amount of greenhouse gas emission reduction would be achieved. State ferry officials didn't have an immediate answer. 'From a cost perspective, is this an efficient or good use of the state's money? To me, it seems pretty expensive,' he said. 'I would hope that there would be quite significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions if we're going to continue down this path.' Executive orders issued by former Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee in 2018 and 2020 are steering Washington State Ferries' transition to an emission-free fleet. There's also a separate state law requiring state agencies to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 70% by 2040 and to be at net zero a decade later. In 2020, the ferry agency published its System Electrification Plan. It carried an estimated cost of $4 billion, but that figure is 'outdated,' David Sowers, who oversees the electrification program, told House members. 'It doesn't reflect the current bidding climate,' and other costs like tariffs, he said. So far, the agency has secured $1.68 billion. After the meeting, Bernbaum said his questions regarding the conversion were to better understand 'what we are actually paying for' in the push to carry out the electrification program. If the goal is protecting the planet from the effects of climate change, and there is $80 million to spend, is it better spent on converting one ferry or on a utility-scale solar or wind farm?' he said. 'We should be aspiring to get to net zero. But we should be spending those dollars in a wise way and that means not being absolutist,' he said. 'I think we're in a nice reflection point when we're starting to get the data back and it gives us an opportunity to reflect and think about if this is the best path forward.'
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Yahoo
Canoe ‘swamped' by water sends 2 into Puget Sound. Then WA ferry comes to rescue
Two people were sent into Puget Sound after their canoe became 'swamped' with water, officials said. Then a ferry came to their rescue. The U.S. Coast Guard got a report the evening of June 13 about two people in the water near Blake Island, the Washington State Ferries said in a June 16 Facebook post. A ferry route happens to go that way, so the transportation service was asked to help retrieve the canoers, officials said. 'Our crew quickly changed course, launched a rescue boat and pulled two individuals from the water,' the ferry system said. Ferry passengers had medical training, so they helped treat the canoers for 'signs of hypothermia.' The ferry then took the pair to Bremerton where they were met by first responders, officials said. They were checked and released. Blake Island is in the Puget Sound, just southwest of Seattle. Missing camper found in canyon near Sedona 3 days after vanishing, AZ cops say 18-year-old slips on rocks and falls to his death over WA waterfall, rangers say 19-year-old gets cramp while swimming at waterfall, then he vanishes, WA cops say
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Yahoo
Contest to vote for new ORCA card design
To celebrate Ride Transit Month, a first-of-its-kind contest is underway to vote for a new skin for an ORCA card. The contest is done with ORCA and Washington State Ferries. Four options are available, all of which are a cartoon orca with some depiction of a ferry. You can vote here. Voting is open to anyone.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bids to build new plug-in Washington state ferries come in high
Washington State Ferries said it would deploy its new electric ferries first on the Mukilteo-Clinton run. The short route is currently served by diesel ferries like the Tokitae, seen here approaching Whidbey Island. (Photo by Tom Banse) Ferry system managers and state budget writers in Washington took a cold wave over the bow Monday upon opening the bids to construct up to five new hybrid electric ferries. 'I don't see how you get to five. There's money for three on a good day,' said state House Transportation Committee Chair Jake Fey, D-Tacoma. The Washington Legislature previously set aside about $1.3 billion to build new ferries and charging infrastructure over the next six to eight years. New vessels are overdue to stabilize the state's aging and sometimes unreliable ferry fleet. Simultaneously, the ferry system and the state's Democratic leadership want to reduce the ferries' air pollution footprint by switching to battery propulsion as much as possible. Eastern Shipbuilding Group of Panama City, Florida, submitted the low bid for the state's desired plug-in hybrid, 160-car vessels, according to a summary of the bids posted by WSF late on Monday. The $251 million price tag for the first ferry in the series was roughly in line with the state engineer's in-house estimate. Nichols Brothers Boat Builders on Whidbey Island submitted a competing bid that was considerably higher, even after including a 13% bid credit authorized by the Legislature to incentivize home state construction. Neither bid includes the expensive hybrid electric powertrains for the new ferries, which the state plans to acquire separately. A third shipbuilder, Philly Shipyard, was expected to submit a bid, but didn't in the end. The Nichols Brothers and Eastern Shipbuilding Group bids both include escalator clauses that Fey predicted 'will invariably make it (the price) go up.' The escalators allow the shipyards to charge more in case of unpredictable cost increases, such as on steel or from tariffs. Washington State Ferries said in a mass email to interested parties that it will evaluate the bid documents in greater detail for the next few weeks before awarding a contract. The agency will undoubtedly also consult further with the governor's office and key legislators about what is affordable. The most recent date given for delivery of the first new ferry was 2029. 'First things first, I need to understand exactly what we've got with the bids,' Gov. Bob Ferguson said Monday after an initial, high-level briefing. Ferguson declined to speculate more before getting additional information. Fey said he expects to discuss where more money could potentially be found. The veteran legislator said multiple currents in the bid environment drove up costs, including rising raw material prices, tariffs and limited shipyard competition – even though the ferry system's request for bids was opened to shipyards nationwide. A Democratic legislator from ferry-served Bainbridge Island, Rep. Greg Nance, said he was struck by how Washington's procurement was affected by the hollowing out of the nation's shipbuilding industry. He was pleased there was more than one bidder. 'Given the state of shipbuilding writ large, we knew that we were swimming upstream,' Nance said in an interview Monday. 'We need to do more to support shipbuilding. We've lost our shipbuilding edge over the past 50 years.' The 144-car Suquamish was the most recent of the workhorse Olympic-class ferries upon which the new plug-in ferry design is based. The diesel-powered Suquamish was delivered to WSF in 2018 at a cost of about $122 million. Debate about how to proceed with further vessel acquisitions in that size class has stretched from then until now. During this dickering, the state pivoted to electrification, costs shot up and the reliability of the existing aging fleet went down. The bid request published by WSF included the high-level design for a plug-in ferry capable of carrying up to 160 cars and 1,500 passengers. Drawings show boats that resemble a slightly elongated version of the diesel-powered Olympic class ferries delivered between 2014 and 2018. However, the new design has just one passenger deck stacked on top of the two auto decks. The center of the ship's hold will be packed with racks of water-cooled rechargeable batteries so the ferry can sail fully on electric power most of the time. The engine room will also feature twin diesel generators as a backup source of propulsion power. Assuming they use green electricity to charge, the new ferries should achieve a large reduction in fuel consumption and an associated reduction in global warming emissions. WSF tentatively plans to deploy the new ferries to the Mukilteo-Clinton run first, probably followed by the Seattle-Bremerton route. Republicans, who are in the minority in the Legislature, have pushed for a cheaper diesel ferry option to be put back on the table. WSF leaders have been consistent in warning against reverting to conventional diesel power because that would necessitate a lengthy redesign and re-bid. 'If we were to switch now to go to diesel, we would have to stop what we're doing with the hybrid, design a new diesel boat and lose the funding from the Climate Commitment Act,' deputy WSF boss John Vezina said under questioning from state Sen. Phil Fortunato, R-Pierce County, at a Senate hearing in March. 'It would probably add two years to the acquisition of those new vessels.' BC Ferries has also been in the market for new car ferries and has been able to acquire new vessels at far lower cost than its Seattle-based neighbors. Unlike Washington State Ferries, BC Ferries can solicit bids from shipyards worldwide. The newest additions to the province's fleet were built in Romania. Building ferries to serve domestic U.S. routes at a foreign shipyard is prohibited under a century-old federal law known as the Jones Act. Of late, the Trump administration and a bipartisan contingent of lawmakers in Congress have highlighted the need to make the American shipbuilding industry more competitive. But President Donald Trump's recent statements on the matter make no mention of jettisoning the longstanding made-in-America requirements. Washington State Ferries currently has 21 vessels of various sizes and ages in its fleet, making it the largest public ferry system in the nation. The WSF long-range plan contains a goal to grow to 26 ferries to provide reliable service on every route, with allowances for maintenance tie-ups and a vessel in reserve. The hefty bids come just as it seemed the agency was sailing into smoother waters. This summer, the ferry system will get nearly back to operating its full pre-pandemic schedule, missing only a second boat on the Port Townsend-Coupeville run during midweeks and the long-suspended international crossing to Sidney, B.C. Last week's generally celebratory blog post about the summer schedule cautioned that peak-season crewing will be stretched close to the limit. Blog author Bryn Hunter said it will be challenging to find a short-term replacement whenever an aging vessel breaks down. 'I wouldn't let this be a Debbie Downer,' Rep. Fey concluded at the end of his initial construction bid analysis. 'There's been great progress made by the ferry system over the past four years.'
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Washington State Ferries return to almost full service. What does that mean?
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways It'll be smoother sailing for ferry passengers this summer. Washington State Ferries says it's returning to almost full domestic service – three years earlier than planned. What's changing and when? The Seattle/Bremerton route will return to its two-boat schedule starting Sunday, June 15. The Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth 'Triangle' route will resume its pre-pandemic three-boat schedule beginning Monday, June 30. A second vessel will operate on the Port Townsend/Coupeville run every Friday through Monday from July 4 through the end of the route's shoulder season on Oct. 13. Also—the Anacortes/San Juan Islands route is getting a new summer schedule. It begins on June 15 and runs through September 20. WSDOT says the revamped seasonal schedule includes a more realistic timetable that will help vessels stay on time. It also makes crewing schedules more manageable, leading to fewer crewing cancellations. How did this happen? In early 2025, Governor Bob Ferguson requested that Washington State Ferries focus on service. Originally, service restoration had been on hold until 2029 when the new hybrid-electric ferries are slated to arrive. With the governor's direction, their vessel engineering department went to work. 'Thanks to their hard work, we'll have the 18 vessels we need to add service beginning next month,' a news release states. The reality of adding service: Patience is needed WSDOT says it'll need to crew three more boats daily for the added services. It says it's working hard on hiring, but the reality is, with more vessels in service – there will be fewer relief crew members available. This means, there could be an increased risk of short-term cancellations while WSDOT works to hire more people.
