MV Tokitae en route from Clinton to Mukilteo.
History
NameTokitae
OwnerWashington State Department of Transportation
OperatorWashington State Ferries
Port of registrySeattle, Washington, United States
Ordered2011
BuilderVigor Shipyards, Seattle, Washington
Cost$144 million[1]
Laid downMarch 29, 2012
LaunchedJuly 19, 2013
ChristenedMarch 20, 2014
Maiden voyageJune 30, 2014
In serviceJune 30, 2014
Identification
StatusIn service
General characteristics
Class and typeOlympic-class auto/passenger ferry
Displacement4,384 LT (4,454 t)
Length362 ft 3 in (110.4 m)
Beam83 ft 2 in (25.3 m)
Draft18 ft (5.5 m)
Depth24 ft 6 in (7.5 m)
Decks5 (2 vehicle decks, passenger deck, sun deck, nav bridge deck)
Deck clearance16 ft (4.9 m)
Installed power6,000 hp (4,500 kW) total from two EMD 12-710G7C diesel engines
PropulsionDiesel
Speed17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph)
Capacity
  • 1,500 passengers
  • 144 vehicles (max 34 tall vehicles)
Crew14 (12 with sun deck closed)

The MV Tokitae is an Olympic-class passenger ferry operated by Washington State Ferries which entered service on June 30, 2014. It serves the Mukilteo-Clinton route.

Naming

On November 13, 2012, the Washington State Transportation Commission named the ferry Tokitae. Tokitae is a colloquial greeting that means "nice day, pretty colors" in the language of the Coast Salish indigenous people.[2][3]

Tokitae was also the earliest name of an orca that had been captured in Penn Cove, Whidbey Island. Jesse White, the veterinarian who bought the captured orca in Seattle for the Miami Seaquarium, gave her that name, but she was renamed Lolita in Miami. Orca Network promoted the choice of Tokitae for the ferry under construction, to promote the cause of returning the captive orca to her natal waters,[2] and the Washington state government was sympathetic. The ferry's route crosses a passage where the orca and her orca community were chased during her capture.[3][4][5]

MV Tokitae departing Mukilteo

History

Construction

MV Tokitae en route to Clinton, Whidbey Island.

The contracts for the Tokitae were signed on November 1, 2011,[6] and its keel was laid on March 29, 2012.[7]

The Tokitae's hull was rolled out of the Vigor construction building onto a drydock on March 2, 2013. It was joined by the completed superstructure the following week; it was built by Nichols Brothers Boat Builders of Freeland, a community on Whidbey Island.[8]

The ferry was floated out of its dry dock and launched in Elliott Bay on July 19, 2013.[9] The Tokitae was christened by state Secretary of Transportation Lynn Peterson on March 20, 2014 at Vigor, during a ceremony opened to the media, officials and workers.[10]

Launch

The official public unveiling occurred on June 8, 2014, at the Clinton ferry terminal.[11] The ferry made its maiden voyage on June 30, 2014.[12] The Tokitae's first week of service was marred by a hydraulic leak and a design flaw that caused cars to scrape against the car ramps.[13]

On April 13, 2015, with 174 passengers on board, the Tokitae lost one of its engines and went dead in the water for about an hour. The vessel used a tug to get to Mukilteo where the passengers disembarked.[14] The Tokitae then drifted around Possession Sound until the problem was fixed.

The Tokitae had lost propulsion a total of 18 times in its first 13 months, causing frequent delays. Regular passengers quipped that "If there's a delay, it's probably the Tokitae".[14]

References

  1. ↑ "Olympic Class (144-Car) Ferries". Washington State Department of Transportation. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  2. 1 2 Garrett, Howard (November 14, 2012). "Lolita Update #130". Orca Network. Freeland, Washington. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
  3. 1 2 "Two new ferries named Samish, Tokitae". The Everett Herald. Associated Press. November 13, 2012. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
  4. ↑ Colby, Jason M. (2018). Orca: how we came to know and love the ocean's greatest predator. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 308. ISBN 9780190673116.
  5. ↑ "Clinton Ferry Schedule 2023". Clinton Ferry Schedule. Retrieved August 19, 2023.
  6. ↑ Moseley, David (November 4, 2011). "Construction to start on new 144-car ferry" (PDF) (Press release). Washington State Ferries. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  7. ↑ Moseley, David (March 30, 2012). "144-car ferry milestone" (PDF) (Press release). Washington State Ferries. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Nichols Brothers Boat Builders Launch 144-Car Washington State Ferry Superstructure" (PDF) (Press release). Nichols Brothers Boat Builders. March 12, 2013. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  9. ↑ Friedrich, Ed (October 19, 2013). "Smoother sailing on construction of 144-car ferries". Kitsap Sun. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  10. ↑ Van Bronkhorst, Erin (March 20, 2014). "State's newest ferry, Tokitae, is christened at Seattle shipyard". Puget Sound Business Journal. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  11. ↑ Haglund, Noah (June 8, 2014). "Whidbey Island welcomes new ferry Tokitae". The Everett Herald. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  12. ↑ Friedrich, Ed (June 30, 2014). "Tokitae begins service this week with problematic ramps". Kitsap Sun. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  13. ↑ Provenza, Nick (July 1, 2014). "Some cars scrape on new Washington ferry Tokitae". The Columbian. Associated Press. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  14. 1 2 Horcher, Gary (April 15, 2015). "Ferry Tokitae loses power with 173 passengers on board". KIRO 7 News. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
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