Foreign Flagged Ferry for Pacific NW Route

The Washington State Department of Transportation Ferries Division, operating as Washington State Ferries (WSF) issued this Request for Information (RFI) to determine the availability of a foreign flagged ferry for an international ferry route, as follows: 
 
WSF is the world’s largest ferry system based on the number of vehicles carried each year and the third largest in the world based on the 23,000,000 passengers served each year.  WSF operates mostly domestic ferry routes in Puget Sound, Washington USA, but also operates a ferry route from Anacortes, Washington to Sidney, B.C. Canada (the “International Route”). 
 
WSF is seeking information on the purchase/sale availability of a foreign flagged ferry that WSF would operate on the International Route, contingent upon no intermediate stops in the San Juan Islands or elsewhere in the U.S.  Direct sailing time would be approximately two hours one way.  The ferry should have the following characteristics, and any exceptions should be so noted:
•    Able to complete two Anacortes, WA – Sidney, B.C. round trips per day
•    1,200 passengers
•    90-160 vehicles
•    Minimum 14 knots, 18 knots desirable
•    Either double-ended or have enough power to maneuver into dock
•    Single-ended vessel would need to have vehicle deck drive-around capabilities (always stern load)
•    Built to current SOLAS standards
•    Meets USCG 100% life raft capability
•    Overhead passenger loading fit up
•    American With Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant
•    Passenger elevator from vehicle deck on each end
•    Freeboard of 6-8 feet for transfer span fit up
•    Draft 17-20 feet for winter weather stability for a standard displacement hull
•    Able to fit into existing docks (approximately 24-foot opening between wing walls that extend aft approximately 30-feet at angles of 34◦ to 40◦  from transfer span centerline
•    Current USCG approved SOLAS Pilothouse Electronic suite
•    Diesel powered using #2 marine diesel fuel
•    Supportable non-obsolete equipment with reliable parts availability
•    Sufficient fuel capacity to enable refueling no more frequently than every 3-4 days
•    Adequate water capacity, using no evaporator(s), support the 1200 passenger capacity
•    Adequate sewage holding capability – no Marine Sanitation Devices (MSDs)
•    Sized for American vehicles. WSF standards 18.5’ long/8.5’ wide/8.5’ tall. 3’ walkway in between.  At least partial 14-foot overhead clearance for tall vehicles 
•    Vehicle Deck: strong enough to support 80,000 lb vehicle weights
 
Interested parties should send a description of proposed vessels to the address listed below.  The responses are non-binding.  This RFI will also be posted on the following WSF web site: www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/contracts

(Source: Passenger Vessel Association)