Washington State Ferries is ending the yr with an order for its fourth new Olympic Class ferry at Vigor Industrial.

WSF signed a Notice to Proceed final week with shipbuilder Vigor for work on its fourth 144-vehicle ferry, with work to start in January.

The new ferry, together with the ferries’ Tokitae, Samish and Chimacum, will probably be changing 4 of Washington State’s oldest ferries constructed throughout the Nineteen Fifties and Sixties.

The price range to construct the vessel is $122 million, and supply is scheduled for mid-2018. The new ferry is funded by means of the Connecting Washington transportation funding bundle.

“Our top priority is keeping the ferry system safe and reliable for the millions of commuters, freight haulers and travelers who depend on us every year,” stated WSF Chief of Staff Elizabeth Kosa. “Thanks to state lawmakers and critical funds from Connecting Washington, we are able to meet some of the ferry system’s most urgent needs, including building this new ferry.”

The fourth ferry will probably be constructed at Vigor Industrial, supporting about 500 jobs at Vigor’s Seattle shipyard and contractors across the area.

The Washington State Transportation Commission is main a public course of to find out the fourth ferry’s title.

Olympic Class ferries are outfitted with the most recent emergency-evacuation and fire-suppression programs, two Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant elevators, and wider car-deck lanes that present extra room for passengers to entry their automobiles. The vessels’ hull design additionally reduces wake and supplies higher gasoline effectivity, whereas cleaner burning engines cut back emissions.

The first vessel, Tokitae, joined the Mukilteo/Clinton route in June 2014. The second ferry, Samish, was put into service on the Anacortes/San Juans Island route in June 2015. The third vessel, Chimacum, is beneath building at Vigor and will probably be assigned to the Seattle/Bremerton route in early 2017.