Four aging Washington state ferries sold for scrap

Washington state has sold all four of its aging "Steel Electric" ferries to a salvage operator for $200,000 — a fraction of what consultants said the boats were worth as scrap a year ago.

"Scrap steel prices plummeted and have never really recovered," said Marta Coursey, ferries spokeswoman.

State officials today announced that the Illahee, Klickitat, Nisqually and Quinault, which have been out of service since 2007, have been sold to Eco Planet Recycling of Chula Vista, Calif.

Coursey said the boats, all more than 80 years old, will be towed later this summer to Ensenada, Mexico, where they will be scrapped. All four are now moored at the ferry maintenance yard in Bainbridge Island's Eagle Harbor.

A year ago, two companies, Vigor Marine and Metro Metals Northwest, hired by the state to estimate the value of the boats, reported that scrap value of the vessels could be $450,000 to $475,000 apiece.

But Coursey said prices have dropped dramatically since then, due to a global downturn in construction. In addition, the state needed to complete a deal soon to move the boats before the fall weather sets in, she said.

The boats were pulled out of service because of corrosion and extensive hull damage.

Earlier this year, state officials were in discussion with a Tacoma company, Managing Green, which had proposed purchasing the boats for $650,000 and preserving them, possibly as floating businesses.

But Coursey said a deal was never reached with Managing Green, which had been unable to locate space to moor the boats.

The four sister ships, built in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1920s, were sold to Puget Sound Navigation, also called the "Black Ball" line, in July 1940. In 1951, the state purchased the company's terminals and ferries and began operating the ferry system.

The boats' class name, "Steel Electric," came from the fact that the boats hulls are steel — an earlier class was "Wooden Electric" — and their diesel engines powered electric motors to propel the boats.

Jack Broom: 206-464-2222 or jbroom@seattletimes.com