The state of Washington, represented by Governor Jay Inslee, joined a ceremony held to highlight the beginning of Vigor constructing five hybrid electric ferries by 2028 for Washington State Ferries (WSF), representing the ‘greening’ of its fleet.
Namely, Vigor is a firm supporter of hybrid-electric solutions, while also the Governor aims to accelerate the state’s transition into achieving a cleaner energy future.
Vigor has constructed the last twelve ferries in the WSF fleet and is following the evolution of hybrid-electric solutions. In addition, in June 2018, the company participated in a delegation of maritime leaders on a Washington Maritime Blue visit to Norway to confer with experts on best practices and available technologies for low carbon ferry systems.
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Vigor and WSF will again visit Norway as part of a second Washington Maritime Blue delegation in September 2019.
Vigor CEO Frank Foti commented
Vigor has always deeply valued the opportunity to partner with Washington State Ferries in fabrication and repair. Now having the opportunity to build vessels that greatly reduce carbon emissions is a great honour – both in terms of the positive impact on the environment and for the hundreds of family wage jobs created by this work.
The Olympic class hull according to the company is the most efficient in the fleet; Also, the vessels will sail based on a 100% electric operation on most routes once the infrastructure needed for charging is installed.
94% reduction in carbon emissions is anticipated along with the added benefit of significantly reduced operating costs for the ferry system.
Concluding, the design and the engineering to convert the existing Olympic Class design to hybrid-electric is currently underway. The company plans to begin the construction of the vessels in late 2020 and the first delivery to be achieved in late 2022.
