‘Flying’ passenger ferry sails Puget Sound

Anyone hoping to catch sight of something out of the ordinary on Elliott Bay got it this week as a little, fully electric boat lifted out of the water on a couple of blades and wheeled around the waterfront in front of many an upraised thumb and smartphone camera.

Inside, as the boat inclined and quickly got up to speed, a choppy ride suddenly glided smoothly, and the sensation of floating gave way to that of flying.

The boat — made by Northern Ireland’s Artemis Technologies — is in town simply to show off, and to help drum up some business for Artemis and its new partnership with Delta Marine, a local maker of luxury yachts.

The goal: bring a new fleet of passenger-only, electric-powered hydrofoil ferries to Puget Sound.

Though hydrofoils have been around for decades, lifting a boat’s hull off the water’s surface with something like underwater wings, it’s only recently that light composite materials and onboard stabilizing technology have made the boats feasible for commuter transit use.

The boat in town is one of Artemis’ luxury models, with 12 plush seats inside. In October, the first of its 150 passenger models will launch in Belfast, Northern Ireland — the first of many, the company hopes.

Artemis is still casting about for a local customer. Kitsap Transit, which began foot-ferry service in 2017, has been working toward building an “electric fast foil ferry” since 2020, when it received its first dose of public dollars to explore the possibility. Kitsap Transit is working toward building a prototype in Washington but has no definite timeline.

This week, it’s Artemis’ show. The boat heads to Olympia on Thursday and Tacoma on Friday. After a weekend off, the boat and its crew will sail around Lake Union and Lake Washington on Monday and Tuesday before heading to British Columbia.