WSF reconsidering converting ferry power

It’s looking like seven ferries won’t be re-powered as envisioned.
Washington State Ferries had planned to replace the Hyak’s 48-year-old diesel generators  and diesel propulsion motors with hybrid diesel-electric generators. Director Lynne Griffth told the Transportation Commission last week that it “ended up being too costly.”
Spokeswoman Hadley Romero said Wednesday that WSF has asked to redirect funds from the Hyak hybrid project to the Olympic Class (144-car) program,  vessel maintenance and preservation. No decision will be known until after the legislative session.
The Hyak, built in 1967, was primarily a standby vessel, so didn’t get generator and motor upgrades when the other three Super-class boats did during the 1990s and early 2000s. The Hyak engines run at full power all the time, even when at the dock. The hybrids would’ve had changeable speeds and could have been partially powered by batteries. The conversion would’ve saved 20 percent of the 1.34 million gallons of fuel the Hyak burns each year. The $22 million conversion was scheduled to take place from next October to May 2016.
Three new 144-car ferries will retire the three old Evergreen Class boats in the next few years. Next to go after that would probably be the Hyak.
The state still might convert six Issaquah-class ferries to liquid natural gas, but it’s not seeming as likely. LNG fuel costs less and produces less pollution. The retrofits would pay for themselves long before the boats retired. The Coast Guard has reviewed WSF’s safety, navigation and security risk assessment. Then it will issue a letter of approval and WSF can receive proposals for conversion.
I’ve heard some in the fleet would rather design and build LNG boats from scratch, and Griffith seemed to echo those sentiments.
“I’m not opposed to the conversion, but I think long-term its going to be a better solution for us and it gives us a little bit more time for the industry to mature,” she said.
Vigor Shipyards is building three 144-car ferries and at some point will get a fourth of the same kind. After that, the state can switch tio LNG-powered vessels.