Vigor Marine Seattle, an American shipbuilding facility, has completed the hybrid-electric conversion of the ferry, Wenatchee. This makes the Wenatchee the largest passenger ferry in the United States to be converted to hybrid-electric power.
The Wenatchee, a Jumbo Mark II class ferry that can carry 202 vehicles, is one of the three largest ferries in the WSF fleet. It is expected to return to service on the Seattle–Bainbridge Island route in summer 2025, after final preparations at Eagle Harbor Shipyard and a review by the U.S. Coast Guard.
Sea trials and crew training are already underway.
The extensive conversion project lasted nearly 21 months and involved around 700 workers. Of these, nearly 600 were union-represented skilled tradespeople who carried out the core production work.
Vigor’s work on the vessel included the removal of two diesel generators and the construction of two new battery rooms that now house a total of 864 battery modules.
The team
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