Florida builder selected for Washington State Ferries' newest vessels

Washington Governor Bob Ferguson has selected the US$714.5 million bid from Florida-based the Eastern Shipbuilding Group (ESG) 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 governor's office said via a press release earlier this week.

“We’re restoring domestic service to pre-pandemic levels years ahead of schedule, improving crew retention, and soon will bring our first hybrid-electric vessel into service,” Mr Ferguson said. “After careful consideration and conversations with legislative leaders, I believe Eastern [Shipbuilding] is the best option to build these critically important vessels at a fair cost to our taxpayers.”

The contract was awarded to ESG a year-long process of advertising, pre-qualifying shipyards, and answering shipyard requests for clarification.

Two shipyards submitted bids, and Eastern’s bid was six per cent lower than WSF’s own engineer’s estimate, and significantly lower than the other bidder, the governor's office confirmed.

The shipyard bid is only part of the newbuild process. There is an additional approximately US$150 million for the first vessel for owner-furnished equipment, construction management, WSF crew training, and risk contingencies.

This will bring the cost of the first vessel to approximately US$405 million, the cost of the second to US$360 million, and the cost of the third to US$325 million, as contingency risk decreases with lessons learned from each previous construction, according to the governor's office.