WSF Celebrates Long-Awaited Steelcutting for New Hybrid-Electric Ferries
After years of preparation, Washington State Ferries celebrated the steel-cutting for a series of hybrid-electric ferries at Eastern Shipbuilding Group's facility in Florida. The ferry service is buying three of the 160-vehicle vessels from Eastern, including a one-vessel option that it has decided to exercise.
"This is the first time in a decade that Washington State is building ferries," said WSF electrification program administrator David Sowers. "We restored our ferry system to full, domestic service. Now, we are taking a significant step toward rebuilding our fleet."
The steel-cutting ceremony is the first step in a long construction timeline, and the vessels will deliver starting in 2030. The current fleet is aging - more than half of its 21 ferries are over 40 years old - and reliability issues are becoming a problem. WSF believes that its service will benefit from fleet renewal - in addition to the benefits of electrification. WSF has announced plans to keep building and acquire as many as 16 new vessels by 2040.
The decision to build the ferries out of state was locally controversial, as prior orders had gone to a Washington yard. But the Washington State governor's office says that the sole local bid received would have had an all-in cost of $1.51 billion for three ferries - about $200 million more than the legislature provided for the project. The comparable all-in figure for Eastern's bid came in at about $360 million less. The state accepted the lower bid, and it wants to use the cost savings to help pay for a fourth ferry; it emphasizes that it still sends all ferry maintenance dollars to local shipyards.
An initial plan to build five 144-car, plug-in hybrid-electric ferries was launched in 2019 with a local shipbuilder, Vigor Industrial. Deliveries would have started this decade, but the program came to an end in 2022 when the unit cost estimate exceeded the state's expectations.
Med Marine's Latest RAmparts 2500-W Tugboat Takes to the Water
[By: Med Marine]
MED MARINE has launched a new RAmparts 2500-W tugboat from the slipways of EREGLI SHIPYARD, bringing another vessel built for its own fleet one step closer to service. Successfully launched at the end of July, the 25-metre harbour tug now moves into the next phase of her journey, with preparations continuing ahead of her entry into the fleet.
There is a particular meaning in watching a vessel built for your own fleet leave the shipyard. Every line drawn, every section assembled, and every system brought together at EREGLI SHIPYARD has been shaped with the vessel's future work in mind. This RAmparts 2500-W will soon move from construction to service, joining a fleet whose daily work depends on strength, precision, and the ability to respond when it matters.
Designed as a versatile harbour tug, the vessel delivers approximately 65 tonnes of bollard pull and is equipped to meet Class FiFi-1 requirements. Her capabilities cover ship handling, towing, pushing, mooring, and firefighting operations, supported by an azimuth stern drive propulsion system that gives her the agility needed to work confidently in demanding port environments.
Two main diesel engines drive Z-drive units fitted with high-efficiency fixed-pitch propellers, translating power into the controlled thrust required for harbour operations. Beneath the deck, the welded steel hull is arranged around watertight compartments, with dedicated spaces for accommodation, machinery, fuel, fresh water, and the propulsion system. Every part has its place, built around the simple purpose of keeping the vessel safe, dependable, and ready for the work ahead.
For MED MARINE, this vessel carries something beyond its technical specifications. It is being built to become part of the company's own working fleet, drawing directly on the shipbuilding experience developed at EREGLI SHIPYARD through years of building tugboats for operators around the world. The knowledge gained across those projects now returns to the MED MARINE fleet in a vessel shaped for the demands of life at sea.
Technical specifications of the tugboat:
Length: 25,20 m
Breadth: 12,00 m
Depth: 4,60 m
Gross Tonnage: <400
Bollard pull: 65 tons
Speed: 12 knots
Crew: 8 people
The products and services herein described in this press release are not endorsed by The Maritime Executive.
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