Return to service expected summer 2025
SEATTLE – After one year at Vigor shipyard, work to modernize the Wenatchee is progressing, including the necessary and long-planned upgrade to its aging propulsion system and conversion to hybrid-electric power. With capacity for 202 vehicles, the Wenatchee is the largest passenger ferry in the United States to be electrified. Washington State Ferries originally estimated work would take roughly a year to complete and now expects a return to service summer 2025.
WSF awarded a contract to Vigor in September 2023 to convert the Jumbo Mark II class ferries to hybrid-electric power and complete the required propulsion system upgrades, ensuring the vessels remain reliable for their 60-year lifespans. The three ferries, the Wenatchee, Tacoma and Puyallup, were built in 1998, 1997 and 1999 respectively.
“There are no issues with the technology itself, but as is common with major vessel retrofits, we have faced some challenges in working this new technology into the existing vessel. Working with Vigor, we have largely tackled these issues and are now preparing for system commissioning. We’re also applying our lessons learned for the subsequent vessels,” said Matt von Ruden, administrator for the WSF System Electrification Program.
Major work completed to date on Wenatchee includes removal of two propulsion diesel generators, installation of electric power conversion and distribution equipment, upgrades to obsolete propulsion control equipment, reconfiguration of piping systems, and build-out of two new battery rooms. Ongoing work includes installation of thousands of feet of electric and fiber optic cable. From there, the battery modules will be installed, and crews will begin to bring the ferry back to life. This “commissioning” process is a highly structured sequence of energizing system components and testing them to ensure they operate as designed.
View a video showing the progress to date on the Wenatchee.
After Vigor’s work is complete, the WSF team will need approximately four weeks to put Wenatchee through its paces with additional system checks and sea trials, as well as training for the vessel crews. The Tacoma conversion will not begin until the Wenatchee returns to service.
“The benefits of this program are substantial,” said von Ruden. “When these propulsion upgrades are complete, the Wenatchee will emerge with improved reliability, increased efficiency and reduced emissions.”
The conversion of all three vessels and their supporting terminals will reduce WSF’s diesel fuel consumption by over 4.7 million gallons per year. The designs will support three modes of operation – diesel, battery or hybrid-diesel battery – providing increased reliability and resilience.
The Jumbo Mark II ferries are the biggest emitters in the fleet, contributing up to 26% of WSF’s greenhouse gas emissions. When conversions are complete and the terminals are electrified, Jumbo Mark II emissions are expected to drop by roughly 95%.
While WSF is one of the first and largest ferry systems in the U.S. to electrify ferries, ferry operators throughout northern Europe have converted more than 70 ferries to hybrid-electric power since 2015. The technology is also in use by BC Ferries.
WSF leading change in the maritime industry
With an all-diesel fleet currently, WSF burns 19 million gallons of diesel fuel to transport tens of millions of passengers every year. As WSF works to replace its aging fleet, electrifying the ferry system will drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare Washington for a changing climate. If fully funded, the electrification program will:
- Convert 6 current diesel ferries to hybrid electric.
- Build 16 new hybrid vessels.
- Retire 13 diesel ferries.
- Add charging power to 16 terminals.
Legislators have so far appropriated $1.7 billion in current and future funding from the Move Ahead Washington package and Climate Commitment Act for three ferry conversions, five new hybrid-electric ferries and electrification at five terminals including Colman Dock. The total electrification program will cost almost $4 billion.
This hybrid-electric plan and design is also the quickest path to new vessels. WSF has legislative direction, funding and design to proceed with the hybrid-electric vessels. To change course and build diesel-only ferries, WSF would need new legislative direction and re-start the design process. The earliest a new diesel vessel could enter service would be 2030, two years beyond the current timeline for the first hybrid-electric ferries.
About WSF
WSF, a division of the Washington State Department of Transportation, is the largest ferry system in the U.S., safely and efficiently carrying tens of millions of people a year through some of the most majestic scenery in the world. For the latest service updates, sign up for rider alerts and track each ferry online using the real-time map.