WSF Weekly Report | Career day; new ferry bid openings; puzzles

||| FROM STEVE NEVEY for WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES |||

A message from Steve

As more of our employees reach retirement age, we must make maritime jobs easier to access for our next generation of workers. Today, we hosted our third annual career day at our Eagle Harbor Maintenance Facility. It was wonderful to see nearly 150 students from eight area high schools exploring careers in the maritime industry. They toured Chetzemoka and took part in demonstrations with our deck, terminal and trades staffs. The key takeaway was to learn about the jobs we have to offer after graduation.

Students with West Sound Technical Skills Center’s welding program watch Eagle Harbor employees Christopher Viciana and Quan Vu working in the weld shop.

We are committed to making maritime jobs accessible to a more diverse workforce including women, people of color, the disabled and LGBTQ+ qualified Washingtonians. We know this is important to the long-term stability of our workforce. If you know someone who wants to work on the water, interact with customers or tinker with the complex machinery that keeps our system running, we offer lifelong career opportunities. We’re excited to keep building these connections and look forward to helping more students set sail on their maritime journeys. 

West Seattle High School students participate in a rescue drill.

A Central Kitsap High School student throws a life ring into the water during a hands-on life-saving demonstration.

Bid opening for new ferries rescheduled to May 12

The opening of bids for our new hybrid-electric 160-auto ferries is now set for May 12, instead of April 7. All three pre-qualified shipyards requested more time to review 800 pages of technical bid requirements. Allowing the additional time helps ensure the shipyards can submit responsive bids, which tends to generate more competitive bids. While any delay is frustrating, this step helps ensure competition for the best boats at the best price. Building new vessels is key to our long-term service reliability, but it’s complicated. Our ferry system electrification efforts are now led by David Sowers. He brings decades of experience managing major projects. We now expect to sign a contract with at least one low bidder by the end of June. Our first new vessel is still on track to enter service in 2029. With strong support from Gov. Bob Ferguson and the Legislature, we’re committed to delivering these ferries as soon as possible.

In addition to lowering our emissions, these new boats will help our crew members. The vessels will produce less noise and have fewer vibrations, making the ride easier on the body and reducing fatigue for our employees.

A tour of our warehouse facility

I visited our warehouse in Seattle’s Georgetown neighborhood last week to gain a deeper understanding of the important work that goes on there. The facility’s employees aren’t as visible as our terminal and vessel crews, but they’re just as vital to our system. Almost everything we need, from cleaning supplies to spare parts, is processed through there. These items are then sent out to the fleet, Eagle Harbor Maintenance Facility, many commercial shipyards and our office headquarters. Many times, those items include materials used by our repair teams to fix our ferries and terminals. During my visit, I enjoyed hearing from staff and answering their questions. Thank you to the behind-the-scenes team at our warehouse for your critical work in keeping our system going.

With Inventory and Logistics Manager Ari Iliakis, Inventory Agent Mark Voiland, Storekeepers Tony Booher and Ron Church, Warehouse Foreperson Tim Jellison, Storekeeper Mark Gilbert, Storekeeper Lead Nick Wakeman, Inventory Agent Jenn Smith and Maintenance Materials Coordinator Dave Rogers at our warehouse

Ferry Riders’ Opinion Group survey

Share your thoughts about us in the latest Ferry Riders Opinion Group survey hosted by the Washington State Transportation Commission. Casual, recreational and regular riders, as well as those who are interested in ferry issues and management are encouraged to take the current survey. Sign up to join the Ferry Riders’ Opinion Group to ensure you’re included in all future surveys. Thanks for your participation and input!

Sailing stats for week of March 17-23

For the week of March 17-23, we completed 99.8% of our 2,732 scheduled sailings. This figure is separate from on-time performance. Of the nine cancellations, six were for vessel-related issues, one was because an emergency, one was due to other miscellaneous reasons and one was for a schedule reset (when a boat is so far behind schedule, we cancel a sailing to get it back on schedule, providing predictability for customers) and three were because of vessel-related issues. There were no cancellations due to crewing.

Customer kudos

“Puzzles on the passenger deck and a super friendly staff who handed out licorice. Thank you!”

-Port Townsend/Coupeville route customer