Page 20: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 1994)

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LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

Ferry Contract Dispute

Settled By Legislature

By

Kathleen Gleaves, contributing editor

In mid-September the Wash-ington State Ferry System (WSF) awarded the propulsion system contract for its three new Jumbo Mark II ferries to Si- emens' Automation and Drives Di- vision. The celebration was short- lived. Six weeks after the formal announcement, NC Machinery filed a lawsuit to halt the $47 million award.

NC Machinery, whose CAT en- gines were not part of the winning

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Siemens proposal, claimed that the state did not follow its own procure- ment laws in awarding the contract.

Citing a single sentence in the Re- vised Code of Washington (RCWs) they claimed the bid evaluation com- mittee was required to do a life-cycle analysis, an analysis they believed would have earned its engines top placing in the final evaluation. Ferry system lawyers argued that the law required only that a determination be made as to whether a life-cycle analysis was in the best interest of the State. WSF management and

State Procurement analyzed it and determined that it was not the best method for selecting the engines.

State professional and licensed en- gineers maintain that in a strict life- cycle analysis, fuel efficiency swamps all other criteria including factors they deem more important, such as reliability, maintenance and com- monality.

The December court hearing lasted two days during which attor- neys for both sides presented an avalanche of technical data to the judge who eventually enjoined the state from proceeding with the Si- emens contract, halting all work in progress.

Ferry system managers objected, stating that due to previous difficul- ties with the procurement depart- ment the project had already been out for bid twice, it was months behind schedule and further delays would cost taxpayers additional dol- lars and leave them without badly needed ferry capacity for at least another year.

Shortly before the judge's written decision was presented, a deal was struck between the state and NC

Machinery to remove the engines from the propulsion package and bid them separately, allowing Siemens to remain as the propulsion system vendor and work to continue.

The ferry system then turned to the state legislature for help, asking for one-time permission to remove the life-cycle analysis requirement for its engine selection. The bill passed the House on February 26 and the Senate on March 5.

Lobbyists for every major engine manufacturer were working hard in

Olympica attempting to add word- ing to the proposed law that would favor their product. Ferry system representatives worked equally hard to keep the bill free of encumbrances.

Upon passing, the bill carried only one amendment, which requires the state to consider only the technical data that appears on the manufacturer's specification sheet in its analysis. No personal knowl- edge, field experience or outside in- formation can be used in the evalu- ation process.

Though unhappy with the amend- ment, ferry engineers feel they can work with the bill as written and will be able to get the project back on track.

Siemens' original proposal pack- age contained EMD 710 diesel en- gines. Rounding out the system are

Kato alternators, Trafo transform- ers and Bird-Johnson shafting and propellers. Siemens will supply their own switchboard, propulsion motors 22 Circle 282 on Reader Service Card Maritime Reporter/Engineering News