Only one bid to build new state ferry

Todd Pacific Shipyard was the only bidder this morning on a contract to build a new 64-car ferry for the state ferry system's Port Townsend-Keystone run.

The shipyard's bid of more than $65 million is about $16 million over the state's estimate for building one boat.

The shipyard had the option of bidding on building one boat or two.

The shipyard's bid of more $124 million for two boats was more than $28 million over the state's estimate.

Ferry director David Moseley said he was disappointed that there was only one bid, "but we have to play the cards dealt us."

He said when the state held a pre-bid conference in August, six shipyards showed up.

Moseley said he wasn't surprised that the bids came out high given that Todd submitted the only bid.

"I wish we had competition, but when I saw one (bid), it didn't surprise me," he said.

The state will review Todd's bid and make a decision in the next couple of weeks to accept or reject it.

The Legislature last year appropriated $84.5 million to build new boats to replace the 80-year-old steel-electric class vessels pulled out of service because of damaged hulls.

Moseley said the state now has three options: reject the bid, build one boat, or go back to the Legislature for more money to build two boats.

Steve Welch, CEO of Todd Shipyards, said he hadn't seen the state's estimate when he submitted his company's bid. He said one reason his firm's bid was higher than the state's estimate is because of the requirement that the first boat be completed in 18 months.

"We will meet the state's requirement," Welch said. "It's extremely aggressive and there's no question that the 18-month bid cycle increased costs."

Welch said if Todd receives the bid, it will start building the new boat immediately.

The second boat has to be delivered 12 months after the first one is completed.

The state originally planned to build a new ferry like the Steilacoom II, which has been loaned by Pierce County to operate on the Keystone-Port Townsend route, until the state builds a new ferry for the crossing.

But when it opened bids last March on the ferry, the bids came in $9 million over the state's estimate.

Todd bid nearly $26 million to build the ferry, while Washington State Ferries had estimated the cost would be between $13 and $17 million.

Initially, the state had planned to build three 50-car ferries, using a design crafted by Elliott Bay Design, a design used to build two Pierce County ferries, including the Steilacoom II.

Then the state decided it would build just one of the Pierce County clones and then build two using an Island Home design, a ferry that serves Martha's Vineyard in New England. When the bids came in so high for the Steilacoom boat, the state decided to abandon that effort and build two ferries modeled after the Island Home, also designed by Elliott Bay Design, a local company.

By law, the boats must be built in a Washington shipyard.

There was pressure for the state to abandon the Steilacoom boat because the 64-car Island Home ferries are more stable. The water on the route, Admiralty Inlet, can be rough.

The Island Home ferry operates between Woods Hole, Mass., and Martha's Vineyard

Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com