One down and two to go. Maybe three to go.
Nichols Brothers Boat Builders of Freeland expects to begin work within the next two weeks on the second in a series of 64-car ferries to be built for the state of Washington, company officials said Monday.
Meanwhile, two of three completed sections of superstructure for the first ferry in the string were hoisted on barges in Holmes Harbor on Friday and shipped to Seattle.
“It was a completely new move for us, putting sections on barges,” said Matt Nichols, managing director for business development. “Everything went like clockwork.”
The third section of the new ferry is scheduled to be transported to Seattle on Thursday. A crane and barge to be used in that effort is waiting at anchor at Langley Marina.
On Friday, the two components were towed to Todd Pacific Shipyard, where they will be attached to the ferry’s hull and car decks. Nichols Brothers, a subcontractor for Todd on the ferry job, built the passenger quarters and the two pilot houses.
Nichols said the barges departed Freeland about 6 p.m. Friday and arrived in Seattle about midnight.
The new ferry, the Chetzemoka, is scheduled to be placed on the Keystone-Port Townsend route this summer.
Nichols Brothers and Todd will cooperate on two additional 64-car ferries under a $144 million contract awarded last October by the state. The vessels are scheduled to go into service in 2011 and 2012.
An option for a fourth ferry is included in the contract.
Nichols said the Freeland firm will again build the superstructures for the next two vessels, although for the next one, Nichols Brothers will also build the steel flooring that supports the superstructure.
The flooring on the first ferry was built in Everett. Nichols said the company hopes to take on more of the work for the next two ferries, perhaps as much as 25 percent. The firm built about 10 percent of the first ferry, he said.
“It’s about us being competitive with our pricing,” Nichols said.
He said workers will immediately begin rejigging the yard in preparation for the next ferry job. He said materials for the vessel should arrive within the next two weeks.
Meanwhile, behind its green fences, Nichols Brothers is humming along with four new builds, including the next ferry, and two reconditionings.
Nichols said the company has hired 36 additional workers in the past two months, bringing its workforce to 167. It plans to increase that number to 235 employees by midyear, he said.
The firm also is building another $10 million heavy tugboat for a
San Francisco buyer, who may also order another one, Nichols said.
The company, along with Kivchak Marine Industries in Seattle, also is building a fourth $8.8 million, 116-foot catamaran ferry for San Francisco’s Water Emergency Transportation Authority. Delivery is expected in April.
