High Bids for Washington State Ferries Raise Concerns
The bids to construct up to five new hybrid-electric ferries for Washington State Ferries (WSF) have come in higher than expected, casting doubt on the state’s plans to build the vessels with the allocated $1.3 billion. State House Transportation Committee Chair Jake Fey expressed his concerns, stating, “I don’t see how you get to five. There’s money for three on a good day.”
The Washington Legislature had set aside approximately $1.3 billion to build new ferries and charging infrastructure over the next six to eight years. The new vessels are overdue to stabilize the state’s aging ferry fleet, which is known for being unreliable. Simultaneously, the ferry system and the state’s Democratic leadership aim 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, with a price tag of $251 million for the first ferry in the series. This 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.
The bids included escalator clauses that Fey predicted “will invariably make it (the price) go up.” These clauses allow the shipyards to charge more in case of unpredictable cost increases, such as on steel or from tariffs. WSF will evaluate the bid documents in greater detail over the next few weeks before awarding a contract.
Gov. Bob Ferguson said, “First things first, I need to understand exactly what we’ve got with the bids.” He declined to speculate further before getting additional information. Fey expects to discuss where more money could potentially be found.
The cost of building ferries has roughly doubled over the past seven years. The 144-car Suquamish, the most recent of the workhorse Olympic-class ferries, was delivered to WSF in 2018 at a cost of about $122 million. The new plug-in ferry design is based on this class, but with significant modifications to accommodate hybrid-electric propulsion.
WSF plans to deploy the new ferries to the Mukilteo-Clinton run first, probably followed by the Seattle-Bremerton route. The new ferries should achieve a large reduction in fuel consumption and associated global warming emissions, assuming they use green electricity to charge.
Republicans have pushed for a cheaper diesel ferry option, but WSF leaders warn that reverting to conventional diesel power would necessitate a lengthy redesign and re-bid, potentially adding two years to the acquisition process.
