Bill to provide backup plan if bids for hybrid-electric ferries fail could be sunk

A Washington state lawmaker from Gig Harbor is backing a “contingency” bill in case bids for hybrid-electric ferries expected this April don’t pan out.

Republican Rep. Michelle Caldier said House Bill 1377 would, according to a news release from her office, put in place a contingency option “allowing the governor to declare an emergency and take all necessary actions to expedite the permitting and procuring of at least two non-electric ferries with the goal of delivery within two years.”

Caldier told The Center Square the legislation is a backup plan if no shipyard qualifies as a builder.

“In 2019, we were able to get funding for five ferries and, unfortunately, due to former Gov. Jay Inslee’s executive order, he changed it to hybrid-electric ferries,” Caldier explained. “We now have three companies who said that they are willing to possibly have a bid, but we don’t know for sure, and those bids will not be coming back until after we are out of session.”

Caldier said her bill acknowledges the possibility that the bids cold fall through, with the goal being that the state can build diesel ferries if that happens.

“That way we can at least have boats in the water, and it changes it so we’re not mandated to convert the older vessels to hybrid-electric because they are severely aged,” she noted. “Mine is a ferry district. I have two main ferry terminals and my constituents rely on that for transportation, and it’s not reliable but they still need to get to work and still need to get to doctor’s appointments and to school.”

As previously reported by The Center Square, in 2023 alone there were more than 3,000 canceled sailings in the state ferry system.

“When it comes down to saving the environment, getting a diesel ferry in the water is a much better choice than waiting for the hybrid-electric, which at the very soonest will be 2030," Caldier said.

The odds of the bill advancing appear slim.

The Center Square asked if HB 1377 would get a hearing before the House Transportation Committee.

“No,” Caldier answered. “I have been told that it’s a big fat no and I have met with the governor’s office, and they seem optimistic we’ll get something. But, we were optimistic before and that fell through, so I try to run on facts and reality instead of hopes and dreams.”

The Center Square reached out to House Transportation Committee Chair Jake Fey, D-Tacoma, for comment via email about the bill’s chances for a hearing but did not receive a response.

Fey has previously supported the hybrid-electric ferry push, arguing it would “accelerate our work in trying to restore more important and reliable service that will have long lasting benefits for all the residents of the state of Washington.”

The three shipbuilders that expressed interest in constructing up to five hybrid electric ferries include Nichols Brothers Boat Builders in Freeland, Wash., Eastern Shipbuilding Group in Panama City, Fla., and Philly Shipyard in Philadelphia, Penn.

The planned ferries would each accommodate 160 vehicles to enhance services on the Seattle-Bremerton and Mukilteo-Clinton routes. If bids for the ferries are successful in April, the contract would ask for delivery within 48 months, with new boats expected in 2030, according to Caldier’s news release.