b'MEMBER NEWSEastern Shipbuilding Group Selected toMEMBER NEWSBuild New Washington State Ferries VesselsW ashington State Governor Bob Ferguson selected the $714.5millionbidfrom Florida-basedPVAmemberEastern ShipbuildingGrouptobuildthree new160-vehiclehybrid-electricfer-ries. Washington State Ferries (WSF) will move forward with the contract-ing process, following the first com-petitive bid for ferry construction in more than 25 years.The contract award comes after a com-prehensiveyear-longprocessduring which two shipyards submitted bids. Easterns bid was 6 percent lower than WSFs own engineers estimate. WSF continues to prioritize workforcefor crew hiring, retention and train-recruitment,retention,andtraininging.WSFsapprenticeshipprogram The shipyard bid is only part of the neweffortstohelpstabilizethesystem.has helped turn the tide on staffing; buildprocess.ThereisanadditionalThe budget signed by Governor Fer- WSFisnowhiringenoughskilled approximately $150 million for the firstguson invests more than $39 millioncrew to replace those retiring.vessel for owner-furnished equipment, construction management, WSF crew training, and risk contingencies. This brings the cost of the first vessel to ap-proximately $405 million, the second to $360 million, and the third to $325 million, as contingency risk decreases with lessons learned from each previ- STAY CONNECTED ous construction.TO WHAT COUNTSInMarch,GovernorFergusonan-nouncedhisplantodelaythehy- John Deere marine propulsion, generator, and auxiliary engines keep your vessels on schedule. brid-electric conversion of two of theWhen you register your engine and activate stateslargestferriesuntilaftertheJohn Deere Connected Support remote 2026WorldCup.Asaresult,WSFmonitoring and diagnostic services, *you get even more reliabilityexpectstoreturntofulldomesticand confidence. PHOTO: S EDWARD/UNSPLASHservice this summer, for the first time since2019.Onehybrid-electriccon- JohnDeere.com/JDPowerversionhasbeencompleted,onthe Wenatchee,whichreturnedtofull*Available on engines equipped with JDLink modems.service in July.41 JULY 2025'