Need a bigger boat? WSDOT has a deal for you
Jan 14, 2016, 10:50 PM | Updated: May 7, 2016, 10:51 pm
Are you a fan of nautical antiques?
That’s how the Craigslist ad for the Washington State Department of Transportation could start, as the department attempts to unload its oldest ferry, the M/V Evergreen State. Did I mention it has room for 854 of your closest friends for cruising the Puget Sound at a swift 13 knots?
Interested buyers soon can bid for the boat once it is listed as part of the state’s surplus process.
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The 62-year-old ferry is currently the longest-running boat in WSDOT’s fleet. The department is getting rid of it because, well, it’s old. WSDOT has also added two new Olympic Class ferries to its fleet, making the M/V Evergreen State somewhat obsolete.
“The recent addition of two modern, larger and faster Olympic Class vessels to the fleet means the Evergreen State is no longer the best solution for moving people and goods across our state’s waters,” said Washington State Ferries Chief of Staff Elizabeth Kosa.
The Olympic Class ferries can transport 144 vehicles. At 310 feet long, and 73 feet wide, the M/V Evergreen State holds about 87.
That was an impressive number in 1954 when the M/V Evergreen State was originally built. At the time, it was the largest ferry on the West Coast, initially carrying passengers between Bainbridge Island and Seattle, before moving to serve the San Juan Islands. And despite being built in the 50s, it was outfitted with surplus drive motors from WWII.
If WSDOT’s recent record for selling ferries holds, interested buyers could get the massive vessel for quite a bargain.
The M/V Evergreen State is going on the market just three years after WSDOT sold another aging ferry, the M/V Rhododendron, which was 66 years old at the time. The sale of the M/V Rhododendron in 2013 was no simple task. That ferry had the capacity for 48 cars and served Vashon Island. It was initially sold through an online auction for $300,000 — well below its $750,000 estimated value. But despite the $50 deposit required for the sale, it fell through.
Another buyer swooped in at the last minute and purchased the aging ferry for even less — $275,000. The M/V Rhododendron is now a support vessel for Atlantic Capes Fisheries’ shell fishing operations just north of the border off of Vancouver Island.
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