||| FROM KOMO NEWS |||
DES MOINES, Wash. — It’s no secret that the greater Seattle area deals with a lot of traffic congestion. And there’s really no space in many areas to build more or larger highways to handle increased volumes. That’s partly due to the surrounding waterways, so at least one South Sound town is looking to use that to its advantage.
The town of Des Moines wants to get a new water taxi service going out of its marina, but not with your average ferry. It’s looking at bringing in an all-electric, zero-emission, hydro-foiled boat.
If you’ve never seen one, it glides above the water, not on it.
“This is really what you call half a boat and half a plane,” said Sampriti Bhatacharyya with Navier Boat. “There are four wings underwater, and at a certain speed, you can lift off, and suddenly, you’re four feet above the water.”
Bhatacharyya and her team from Navier trucked a pre-production boat up from California to demonstrate its power, as quiet as a whisper, for the city of Des Moines, state and local elected leaders, and other maritime industry experts.
“It’s really about the technology,” said Stephanie Bowman, the Governor’s Maritime Sector lead.
Navier’s all-electric, hydro-foiled boat can run 35 knots. And since this boat is not pushing water but gliding above, there’s no need to worry about seasickness.
While that pre-production boat only holds six passengers, Matthias told KOMO News they’re looking at getting a 60-passenger boat.
