Kwa-di Tabil-class ferries, () were built for

Washington State Ferries Washington State Ferries (WSF) is a government agency that operates automobile and passenger ferry service in the U.S. state of Washington as part of the Washington State Department of Transportation. It runs ten routes serving 20 terminals loca ...

to replace the retired ferries. The vessels serve lower traffic routes and carry up to 64 vehicles. The

State of Washington Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

spent approximately $213 million to construct the three ferries in this class. In the design stage, the class was called the 100 Vehicle-class and later 64 Vehicle-class ferries.

Ferries

Ferries in this class include: * * *

History

In November 2007,

made the decision to remove the 80-year-old ferries from service over safety concerns. Routine inspections revealed serious hull corrosion damage on two of the four old vessels. When the Steel Electrics were removed from service, there were no ferries able to carry vehicles on Port Townsend-Coupeville route as no other vessel could be used in Coupeville's small, shallow Keystone Harbor. Due to the vessel shortage created by the sudden retirement of the Steel Electric-class ferries, Washington State Ferries (WSF) decided to base the design of the Kwa-di Tabil-class ferries on an existing ferry, , which runs between

Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the Northeastern United States, located south of Cape Cod in Dukes County, Massachusetts, known for being a popular, affluent summer colony. Martha's Vineyard includes the ...

and

Woods Hole, Massachusetts Woods Hole is a census-designated place in the town of Falmouth in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. It lies at the extreme southwest corner of Cape Cod, near Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands. The population was 781 ...

. The

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

State Legislature authorized and funded vessel construction in February 2008 and the first vessel was built on tight 18-month schedule by

Todd Pacific Shipyards Vigor Shipyards is the current entity operating the former Todd Shipyards after its acquisition in 2011. Todd Shipyards was founded in 1916, which owned and operated shipyards on the West Coast of the United States, East Coast of the United S ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

(by state law all new WSF vessels are built in Washington). The first ferry, , was christened by Governor

Christine Gregoire Christine Gregoire (; née O'Grady; born March 24, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 22nd governor of Washington from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she defeated Republican candidate Dino Rossi in 2004, and ag ...

and began service November 14, 2010 on the Port Townsend-Coupeville route. Two boat service returned to the route on July 1, 2011 with the delivery of the second ferry, . entered service on February 14, 2012 and was assigned to the Port Townsend-Coupeville route, allowing ''Chetzemoka'' to be reassigned to the Point Defiance–Tahlequah route and the 65-year-old ferry to be retired.

Issues

The Kwa-di Tabil-class ferries have had a number of problems since they were delivered. Most seriously, the non-symmetrical design of the ships caused them to

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noticeably to one side. After a few months in service,

ballast Ballast is material that is used to provide stability to a vehicle or structure. Ballast, other than cargo, may be placed in a vehicle, often a ship or the gondola of a balloon or airship, to provide stability. A compartment within a boat, ship, ...

was added to one side of the vessels to correct the list. Despite promises that the Kwa-di Tabil-class ferries were designed to serve all routes and terminals in the WSF system, they have proven to be ill-suited for many routes. The narrow car decks on the ferries make it difficult to turn vehicles around (necessary on the inter-island route in the

San Juan Islands The San Juan Islands are an archipelago in the Pacific Northwest of the United States between the U.S. state of Washington and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The San Juan Islands are part of Washington state, and form the core of ...

and on the Fauntleroy / Vashon / Southworth route). During a December 2012 and January 2013 fleet emergency, ''Salish'' was pressed into service on the well-traveled Bremerton-Seattle run. It was at that time that it was discovered that the diesel fuel-hungry engines on the Kwa-di Tabil-class ferries struggled to make the speed for which they had been designed, and ''Salish'' averaged at best .

References

External links

Washington State Ferries class information

Washington State Ferries class history

{{WSF Ferry Classes Washington State Ferries vessel classes Ferry classes