SEATTLE — Three shipyards from different corners of the country say they have the ability to build the next generation of hybrid-electric boats for Washington State Ferries.
Of the three, only one is local: Nichols Brothers Boat Builders, in Freeland, on Whidbey Island.
The others are Eastern Shipbuilding Group from Panama City, Fla., and Philly Shipyard in Philadelphia.
The number of potential shipbuilders that submitted prequalification documents to the state agency before the Thursday deadline is far lower than the 15 that asked for more information earlier this year and were sent invitations to bid.
Notably missing from the final three is Vigor Shipyards, a local builder the state had contracted with to build its vessels since the late 1990s. It was planning to do so again for the hybrid-electric fleet, but WSF cut off negotiations with the shipbuilder a few years back when Vigor said the first hybrid-electric ferry would cost more than $400 million — more than double the state’s estimate.
Now, the three interested companies wait to be approved by the state to submit bids, which are due in January. Matt von Ruden, who runs WSF’s system electrification program, said in an email that the agency is reviewing the prequalification documents, and is not required to award a contract even if a company is approved to submit a bid.
Nichols Brothers is among dozens of shipyards in Washington, but one of the few with the ability to build state ferries. A request for comment from Gavin Higgins, the company’s CEO, was not immediately returned Thursday afternoon.
A 2016 report commissioned by the Legislature identified Nichols as one of three state shipyards capable of building ferries — along with Vigor and Dakota Creek Industries — but was ruled out because it did not “currently have the capacity to be the lead shipyard in constructing” vehicle ferries.
The shipyard, however, has been involved in various aspects of building the state ferries Samish, Tokitae, Kennewick, Salish and Chetzemoka. The shipyard also built two fast ferries for Kitsap Transit in recent years — the Enetai and Commander — both of which are out of service, waiting for a replacement part from Finland.
According to its company website, Eastern Shipbuilding Group has built more than 350 vessels, including U.S. Coast Guard offshore patrol cutters, tugboats, passenger ferries, fishing boats and fireboats. Recently, the company built a 124-vehicle, 1,000-passenger ferry for the Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Co. in New York.
Philly Shipyard specializes in building large, ocean-going vessels, primarily tankers and container ships. It also builds training vessels for the U.S. Maritime Administration. In June, the company was sold by the Norwegian Aker Group to the South Korean Hanwha Group, but that purchase is still awaiting regulatory approval.
WSF’s new ferries are part of a nearly $4 billion project to completely electrify the fleet by 2040. That includes retrofitting six diesel ferries to hybrid electric, building 16 new hybrid-electric vessels and adding charging stations to 16 terminals.
So far, the Legislature has only funded the construction of up to five boats. To hurry the process, the state hopes to issue two contracts at once, which could mean that two ferries are delivered and begin sailing in 2028, primarily on the Seattle-Bremerton and Clinton-Mukilteo routes, followed by two more in 2029 and a fifth in 2030.
As a modified design of Washington State Ferries’ Olympic class boat, the new ferries will each have space for 1,500 passengers and 164 vehicles. Below deck, water-cooled batteries will fuel the hybrid-electric propulsion system, both built by the Swedish-Swiss electric equipment manufacturer ABB.
Each time a vessel comes into the slip, it will connect and charge for 20 minutes, the amount of time a ferry typically sits at the terminal while passengers and vehicles unload and load.
WSF hasn’t started a search for a company to design and build its terminal charging stations. The agency is finalizing a request for proposals, which it expects to issue next month.
The boats will be capable of being powered by battery, diesel or a combination of the two, but officials say the diesel will be only for backup power, even though each boat will carry nearly 55,000 gallons of it.
Time will tell if one of the interested shipyards can devise a bid to the state’s liking.
After its fallout with Vigor for new boats, the Legislature loosened its rule requiring the ferry fleet to be made in-state, and a whole new slew of issues cropped up, mainly about not requiring out-of-state builders to meet Washington’s relatively stringent environmental rules and providing a 13% bid credit for in-state contractors that do have to meet those rules.
Vigor, however, is still in business with the state. It is currently converting the Wenatchee from diesel power to hybrid-electric, a complicated process that was expected to be done this year. But after discovering that blueprints didn’t match what workers found on the boat, the ferry won’t sail until next summer.
