Page 46: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (January 2016)

New Boats

Vigor Wins Fourth

SunStone’s expedition-style ships carry between 100 and 250 passengers. The ? eet is a mix

WSF ‘Olympic’ Ferry of ice class vessels that can cruise to the Arctic and Antarctica and warm water ships that cruise the remote areas of the South Paci? c. “I think the Chinese are actually now the second largest group on these cruises. (Image: WSF)

The second Olympic class ferry,

The average age is coming down and these cruises are very expensive, so it’s

M/V Samish, undergoing sea tri- als in April 2015. not cruises for families with kids or young couples.”

Washington State Ferries (WSF)

Niels-Erik Lund, President and CEO of SunStone Ships Inc.

will start 2016 with construction of a new Olympic Class ferry, af- ter signing a Notice to Proceed last week with shipbuilder Vigor Indus- trial for work on its fourth 144-ve- hicle ferry. Construction begins in

January, with delivery scheduled for mid-2018.

Along with the Tokitae, Samish and Chimacum, the fourth Olympic

Class ferry is part of a series built to replace four of the state’s oldest ferries built during the 1950s and 1960s.

The new ferry will be built at

Vigor Industrial, supporting about 500 jobs at Vigor’s Seattle shipyard and contractors around the region.

The budget to build the vessel is $122 million. Funding is provided through the Connecting Washing- ton transportation funding package.

Olympic Class ferries are equipped with the latest emergen- cy-evacuation and ? re-suppression systems, two Americans with Dis- abilities Act-compliant elevators, and wider car-deck lanes that pro- vide more room for passengers to access their vehicles. The vessels’ hull design reduces wake and pro- vides better fuel ef? ciency, while cleaner burning engines reduce emissions.

A public process to determine the fourth ferry’s name is being led by the Washington State Transporta- tion Commission.

The ? rst two Olympic Class fer- ries were delivered on time and under budget. The third vessel, under construction at Vigor, is on schedule, under budget and will be assigned to the Seattle/Bremerton route in early 2017.

[Photo by Hans Lagerweij, Quark Expeditions (provided by SunStone Ships)] 46 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • JANUARY 2016

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