Two old state ferries up for auction

Built in 1954, the Evergreen State is the oldest state ferry in the fleet.

Its drive motors, one named Nadene and another named Rose, came from a surplus World War II destroyer.

"Finding parts for something that has 1940s technology is very, very difficult to do. It's like maintaining a vintage car," said Ian Sterling, Washington State Ferries spokesman.

So WSF has decided it makes sense to get rid of the Evergreen State, as well as the Hiyu.

"It's tiny, holds 34 cars. We call it the baby ferry," Sterling said of the Hiyu.

Both ferries are now listed in an online auction, the Evergreen State with a $450,000 minimum, the Hiyu with a $300,000 minimum.

As of Tuesday, no one had made a bid.

"Other ferries have gone on to become wedding venues, have gone on to become shellfish processing plants," Sterling said.

The ferry system retired the Evergreen State previously, in 2014.

A month later, when the ferry Tacoma lost power off and went in for long repairs, at a time when other boats were out of service, the Evergreen State was put back on the run.

KIRO 7's Graham Johnson asked Sterling if WSF is confident it won't need the Evergreen State again.

"Things are better than they have been, we're still stretched thin. Quite honestly we need to keep building ferries," Sterling said.

Two new ferries are being built, and Sterling says the legislature has funded one older relief boat that can be moved around to fill gaps caused by breakdowns in the aging fleet.

If there are no bidders for the ferries up for auction, the state will regroup and figure out what to do next.

Old ships are often scrapped.

Cox Media Group