Withdrawal From Service
Corrosion on the Steel Electric hulls was discovered in 2007 inspections. On November 20, 2007, the Washington State Secretary of Transportation, Paula Hammond, announced that Washington State Ferries (WSF) would pull all of the Steel Electric class vessels out of service on that day. The decision closed the Port Townsend-Keystone route until WSF began to operate the high-speed passenger-only ferry Snohomish on the run starting November 23.
During Nov. and Dec. the Snohomish was pulled from this run and began a new interim service between Seattle and Port Townsend. This was done, in part, because there were many fewer visitors to Port Townsend during the holiday shopping season and it was hoped that a special run directly from Seattle would bring more visitors and shoppers to town. During this time, WSF got a third party to operate passenger only service on the PT-Keystone run, using a much smaller whale watch boat. The Snohomish was eventually put back on this run.
WSDOT spent $5 million on repairing the MV Quinault, and it passed Coast Guard inspection. Unfortunately, Governor Gregoire believed that the money would be better used building new ferries, than repairing existing ferries and Secretary Hammond announced they were to be scrapped instead. All four of the ferries are berthed at the system's main storage facility in Eagle Harbor, Bainbridge Island. Governor Gregoire announced plans for their replacement, and the Washington State Legislature directed WSF to build new ferries to replace the Steel Electrics. On February 14, 2008, Governor Gregoire signed Senate Bill 6794 into law, which authorized construction of replacement ferries. Despite several proposals to save the Steel Electrics, all four of the class were towed to Ensenada, Mexico in June 2009 for scrapping.
While new ferries were being built, the state leased the Steilacoom II, used by Pierce County's ferry system to cover the Port Townsend-Keystone run. This ferry was being utilized in preference to other state-owned ferries due to the restrictions the Keystone harbor imposes on the size of vessels serving that route.
The state had hoped that the first ferry would enter service in April 2009, however in early April 2008 the state rejected a bid of $26 million to build a ferry based on the Steilacoom II design as being too high. Reasons cited for the bid being $9 million over the state's estimate include the requirement that the shipbuilder complete the ferry within one year (or face stiff daily fines), and changes to the specifications including improved safety, security and quality. Washington State Ferries decided not to re-bid the project at the time.
Washington State Ferries commissioned Todd Pacific Shipyards to build the replacement ferries, which became known as the Kwa-di Tabil class ferry. The design of these ferries is based on the MV Island Home, a vessel which serves the Martha's Vineyard run. The new vessels hold 64 autos, 1,200 passengers and up to 200 bicycles. The first vessel, MV Chetzemoka, was launched in January 2010 delivered to Washington State Ferries in June 2010. Bids for an additional 1 to 2 hulls of this class were to be received by the state in October 2010. The other two ferries of the class, MV Salish and MV Kennewick, were delivered in 2011 and 2012 respectively.
Read more about this topic: Steel Electric Class Ferry
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