The state ferry system’s long-awaited hybrid-electric vessels could potentially be constructed by Whidbey’s very own Nichols Brothers Boat Builders.

The Freeland company is one of three shipyards in the running to build five 160-car boats for Washington State Ferries, which also includes Eastern Shipbuilding Group in Panama City, Florida and Philly Shipyard in Philadelphia. In 2023, the state legislature decided to open up the bidding process to include qualified shipbuilders outside of Washington.

“I think it’s important that we convey the message that lowest price alone is not the important thing here,” Nichols Brothers CEO Gavin Higgins said Monday. “It’s best value to Washington, and I think that’s what we offer.”

Higgins pointed to Nichols Brothers’ experience building superstructures – the part of the boat visible above water – for three of the state ferry system’s 144-car vessels. The company has also built hybrid-electric tugboats in the past and is currently working on a hybrid-electric autonomous vessel for the Navy.

“Building this particular project, I’m not going to say it’ll be easy,” Higgins said. “There’ll be a lot of engineering involved in it, but that’s what we do, and we’ll be able to execute it.”

If selected to build the new hybrid-electric boats, Nichols Brothers is prepared to expand its operations on a lot adjacent to sister company Everett Ship Repair that had previously been used as cargo storage.

The superstructures would be built in the Freeland shipyard and barged over to the Everett location, where the hulls would be created. Higgins said the company is investing $8 million in a new robotic panel line that allows more efficient construction. Sea trials and testing would take place at the Port of Everett Hewitt Terminal.

Earlier this month, State Ferries announced that Nichols Brothers is one of three shipyards, and the only one from Washington, to submit pre-qualification packages.

The bid package comes in mid-November, which is followed by the submission of a bid price at the end of January. Higgins said news of the award is expected in February, and with any hope, Nichols Brothers will be under contract by March 2025 to build the new ferries.

From there, it will be a long journey – 12 months of engineering and 30 months of construction, to be exact, until a new hybrid-electric boat will join the state ferry system’s fleet.

According to State Ferries, the five new vessels will save approximately 240 million gallons of diesel over their 60-year lifespan, reducing carbon emissions from 180,000 to 45,000 metric tons annually systemwide.

The project will precipitate an influx of employment for Nichols Brothers, with approximately 120 new jobs in Freeland and 250 in Everett. Under the contract, 15% of employees will be apprentices.

“These are boats that people can build a life around, and so the continuity of the work is as equally important and exciting as bringing new jobs,” Higgins said.

Portions of the project will be subcontracted to other shipyards around the area.

“In the old line that a rising tide lifts all boats, this will have a strong effect to the marine economy in Puget Sound, a very beneficial effect to that economy which has been suffering quite a lot over the last few years,” Higgins said.