MV ''Chimacum'' is the third vessel of the auto ferries for the

Washington State Ferries Washington State Ferries (WSF) is a public ferry system in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It is a division of the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and operates 10 routes serving 20 terminals within Puget ...

system. The ship was built by

Vigor Industrial Vigor Industrial (Vigor) is an American shipbuilding, shiprepair, and industrial service provider in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Based in Portland, Oregon, the company consists of several subsidiary companies for a combined total of seven ...

at their shipyard in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

and entered service on the Seattle–Bremerton route in 2017.

Description and design

The auto ferries, also known as the 144 Car Ferries, are based on the ''Issaquah'' design. They measure

long overall Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, and is also u ...

and

between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ster ...

with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

at the lower vehicle deck of and a

draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...

at design load waterline of . The vessels have a

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

at design load waterline of . Ferries of the Olympic class are powered by two

Electro-Motive Diesel Electro-Motive Diesel (abbreviated EMD) is a brand of diesel-electric locomotives, locomotive products and diesel engines for the rail industry. Formerly a division of General Motors, EMD has been owned by Progress Rail since 2010. Electro-Motive ...

(EMD) two-stroke 12-710G7C

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

s, each mounted at either end of the ferry turning a propeller at each end of the ship creating total. This gives the ships a maximum speed of and the vessels have capacity for of diesel fuel. The Olympic-class ferries were designed with two car decks, a sun deck and a passenger deck. They can load up to 144 automobiles, using a ramp that is two lanes wide. The ferries can embark 1,500 persons with seating for 1,300.

Construction and career

The Olympic class is the result of the

Washington State Department of Transportation The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT or WashDOT, both ) is a governmental agency that constructs, maintains, and regulates the use of transportation infrastructure in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. Establi ...

requiring replacements for its aging ferry fleet. Funding for a third Olympic-class vessel was authorized in the Spring 2014 session of the

Washington State Legislature The Washington State Legislature is the state legislature of the State of Washington. It is a bicameral body, composed of the lower Washington House of Representatives, composed of 98 representatives, and the upper Washington State Senate, w ...

, and the

keel laying Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a shipbuilding, ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel l ...

and first weld took place on December 9, 2014. The name ''Chimacum'', the gathering place of the Chemakum tribe, was chosen by the Washington State Transportation Commission in November 2014. She was christened on September 14, 2016 by Lynne Griffith, who at the time was serving as the head of the ferries system, the first woman to hold the office. The ceremony took place at the Vigor Industrial shipyard on Seattle's Harbor Island. She was delivered to Washington State Ferries on April 7, 2017, with her entry into service, replacing , expected in the following months. The vessel cost $123 million approximately. ''Chimacum'' was forced into a three-day early temporary service on May 24 after suffered a mechanical breakdown and all other vessels were in maintenance until , could replace her on the Seattle–Bremerton run to finish sea trials and training. The vessel entered regular service in June 2017 on the Seattle–Bremerton route. In November 2020, ''Chimacum'' was the only ferry servicing the route after emergency repairs were required for fleetmate .

References

External links

Washington State Ferries – Chimacum Vessel Details
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chimacum Ships built in Seattle Washington State Ferries vessels 2016 ships