Governor Bob Ferguson announced the selection of the $714.5 million bid from Florida-based Eastern Shipbuilding Group to build three new 160-vehicle hybrid-electric ferries. Washington State Ferries (WSF) will move forward with the contracting process, following the first competitive bid for ferry construction in more than 25 years.
The contract award comes after a comprehensive year-long process of advertising, pre-qualifying shipyards, and answering shipyard requests for clarification. Two shipyards submitted bids. Eastern’s bid was 6% lower than WSF’s own engineer’s estimate, and significantly lower than the other bidder. Another shipyard bidding for the contract is Nichols Brothers Boat Builders, located in Washington.
In order to achieve earlier delivery, WSF prefers to award the contract to two shipyards to achieve the goal of delivering two, two and one new ferries in 2028, 2029 and 2030 respectively, which will be used for the Clinton/Mukilteo and Seattle/Bremerton routes. Currently, Eastern Shipbuilding Group has obtained three of the five new ferries.
The shipyard bid is only part of the new build process. There is an additional approximately $150 million for the first vessel for owner-furnished equipment, construction management, WSF crew training, and risk contingencies. This brings the cost of the first vessel to approximately $405 million, the second to $360 million, and the third to $325 million, as contingency risk decreases with lessons learned from each previous construction.
This hybrid electric ferry features a plug-in design and can carry up to 160 cars and 1,500 passengers. The propulsion system was designed and supplied by ABB, and the hull is similar to a slightly elongated version of the diesel-powered Olympic-class ferries received by WSF between 2014 and 2018.
In contrast, the new ferry will have a passenger deck stacked on top of two car decks; the vessel’s midsection will be equipped with water-cooled rechargeable batteries, enabling it to operate entirely on electric power for most of the time; it will also be equipped with two diesel engines as backup power. By utilizing green power, the WSF can reduce fuel consumption and emissions by 76% when its fleet fully transitions to hybrid electric vessels.
The award of this contract is a major step forward in the modernization of WSF’s fleet, as the largest ferry operator in the United States has faced criticism in recent years for operating an aging fleet and degrading services.
Eastern Shipbuilding Group is a U.S.-owned and operated shipbuilder with three shipyards on the Gulf Coast of Florida and many years of experience in building commercial and government vessels.
WSF operates 21 ferries. As part of its modernization plan, it plans to convert six existing diesel ferries into hybrid electric ferries, build 16 new hybrid ferries, dismantle 13 diesel ferries, and add charging facilities at 16 terminals.