WSF: Three yards in running to build new hybrid-electric ferries

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Nichols Brothers Boat Builders, Eastern Shipbuilding Group and Philly Shipyard are likely to bid to build Washington State Ferries’ planned series of five new hybrid-electric 160-car ferries, according to WSDOT Assistant Secretary Steve Nevey, the head of Washington State Ferries’

“We’ve reached another exciting step in our electrification journey! Three shipbuilders are interested in building five hybrid-electric 160-car ferries for us,” Nevey writes in his weekly update. “They are Nichols Brothers Boat Builders in Freeland, Washington; Eastern Shipbuilding Group in Panama City, Florida and Philly Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Each has sent us pre-qualification packages after we invited shipbuilders across the country to bid. In 2023, the Legislature passed a law allowing us to seek shipbuilders nationwide and to build vessels at one or two shipyards at the same time. We expect the first two boats in 2028, two more in 2029 and the last one in 2030.”

• The new hybrid-electric ferries are being built under Washington State Ferries’ system electrification plan, which has been the subject of a lot of discussion at previous presentations at Marine Log’s FERRIES conference. This year’s event is fast approaching. It’s set for October 29 & 30 in Seattle — and agenda items include a panel discussion on “Forging Ahead on Electrifying Washington State Ferries.”