SEATTLE — A scrap yard may be the next stop for aging state ferries pulled from service because of safety concerns.
Washington State Ferries on Monday began advertising its four Steel Electric-class ferries as being for sale to state agencies, local communities and nonprofit organizations.
“After that, if they don’t sell, we will post them on eBay,” said David Moseley, the state’s assistant transportation secretary in charge of the ferry system. Moseley made the statement in an update posted on the agency’s Web site.
State lawmakers earlier this year passed legislation ordering the ferry system by June 1 to “sell, be in the process of selling, or otherwise dispose of” the 81-year-old vessels.
The ferry system last week sent lawmakers an update on options, including selling the ferries for scrap.
The steel in the old boats has a scrap value of up to $475,000 each, but the ferries possibly could still find buyers interested in using them to transport passengers outside the U.S., according to the report. The ferry system is recommending that the boats be sold for no less than $350,000 each.
Some have suggested that the Steel Electrics be repaired and pressed back into service. The ferry system report says that is not an option, in part because Coast Guard permission to operate the vessels has expired.
None of the Steel Electrics has ever met federal safety standards for watertight compartments, in effect since the 1950s. Until November, they had operated with Coast Guard waivers.
State Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond tied up the vessels Nov. 20 after close inspection of the Quinault found extensive corrosion in the hull. The state initially thought repairs could be made in hopes of squeezing out a few more years of service.
Work was stopped in mid-December after engineers determined nearly half of the Quinault’s hull plating was so rusted it needed to be replaced at a cost of $8 million. The state spent close to $1 million prepping the Illahee for the same sort of close inspection. When work stopped, engineers estimated repairs could cost more than $5 million. No repairs were attempted on the Klickitat or the Nisqually.
Even though the certificates of inspection have expired, Lt. Cmdr. Todd Howard, chief of vessel inspections for the Coast Guard in Seattle, said in late May that the expiration in itself would not pose a barrier to reviving the Steel Electrics. If inspection found less than 25 percent of the hull steel on those vessels in need of replacement, it is possible the ferries could be returned to service without major modifications, Howard said.
He also said that ferry officials are in the best position to know how much money the state has available for investing in repairs.
Moseley said spending more money on the Steel Electrics would not be a prudent use of state funds, and that there is no reason to believe the other boats are in any better shape than the Quinault.
The ferry system earlier was approached by officials in Port Townsend and the Washington Scuba Alliance about the possibility of turning one or more of the old boats into tourist attractions. Port Townsend leaders have talked about tying up one of the boats as a waterfront attraction. The divers would like to see one or more of the Steel Electrics scuttled somewhere in Puget Sound to create an underwater park.
Those ideas are both mentioned in the ferry system’s report to the Legislature.
The report also says that ferry officials on May 15 transferred to other vessels in the fleet obscure leases that for two decades turned the Steel Electrics into floating tax shelters.
Ferry officials initially thought the state would have to pay at least $3 million to compensate two investment companies that since the 1980s have held Safe Harbor Leases on four Steel Electric-class ferries.
Ferry officials are focusing on building new boats to replace the Steel Electrics. They hope to seek bids by August or September for constructing new Island Home-style ferries, a design that is capable of carrying up to 80 cars.
Reporter Scott North: 425-339-3431 or north@heraldnet.com.
Passenger ferries may be sold to Trinidad
Two state passenger ferries may be headed for Trinidad, off the coast of Venezuela.
The Washington state ferry system is negotiating with a broker to sell the Chinook and the Snohomish.
The state tried twice to auction the boats on eBay, hoping to get $9 million, without success.
They had been used on the Seattle-Bremerton run until the state dropped passenger-only boats from the route. The Chinook has been mothballed for four years. The Snohomish was used as a backup on the Port Townsend-Keystone route.
Associated Press
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