A ferry’s journey toward completion

Originally published April 8, 2016 at 7:34 pmUpdated April 9, 2016 at 1:38 am

A worker walks beneath the hull of the Chimacum, the newest state ferry, under final assembly at Vigor Shipyard in Seattle. The 1,110-ton superstructure, or top half of the ferry, which took 18 months to construct at Nichols Brothers Boat Builders on Whidbey Island, is slowly transported from a barge, above left, and slid onto the car deck/hull that was built at Vigor. The 12-hour operation was performed Friday using rollers and dry docks at Harbor Island. The $123 million vessel, scheduled to enter the fleet in 2017 on the Seattle-Bremerton run, will be able to hold 144 cars and up to 1,500 people. (Mike Siegel/The Seattle Times)

Workers watch from the car deck of the new Chimacum ferry as the top half of the ferry’s superstructure is slowly rolled toward them onto the car deck and hull.Vigor finished building two other Olympic-class ferries, the Tokitae and Samish, in 2014 and 2015. (Mike Siegel/The Seattle Times)

The ramp that heads to the upper car deck of the new Chimacum Ferry is seen at center. (Mike Siegel/The Seattle Times)

A view under the hull of the Chimacum ferry in a dry dock at Vigor Shipyard in Seattle. “The joining process requires remarkable craft and precision,” said Matt Von Ruden, WSF Director of Vessels. “We’re excited because joining the superstructure to the hull moves us one step closer to completing the Chimacum and seeing much-needed new ferries in service to modernize our fleet.” (Mike Siegel/The Seattle Times)

Final assembly begins on the ferry Chimacum at Vigor Shipyard in Seattle. The ferry is scheduled to enter service in 2017.

By

Seattle Times staff

Seattle Times staff