Name MV Chimacum Ordered Spring 2014 Construction started 9 December 2014 | Route Seattle–Bremerton Length 110 m Builder Vigor Industrial LLC | |
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Owner Washington State Department of Transportation Operator Washington State Ferries Port of registry Seattle, WA, United States | ||
The MV Chimacum is the third vessel of the Olympic Class auto ferries for the Washington State Ferries system. The ship is currently under construction at Vigor Industrial in Seattle, Washington and is planned to enter service on the Seattle-Bremerton route in early 2017.
Funding for a third Olympic class was authorized in the Spring 2014 session of the Washington State Legislature and the keel laying and first weld took place on December 9, 2014.
The name Chimacum was decided by the Washington State Transportation Commission in November 2014 after a public outreach process. The vessel is named after one of the least known tribes of Native Americans in Washington. While the tribe is now extinct, some members of the S'Klallam and Skokomish tribes can trace their ancestry back the Chemakum.
The Chimacum has two car decks, a sun deck and a passenger deck. Washington State Ferries has not announced if the sun deck will be open, or closed like on the MV Tokitae.
She was christened on September 14, 2016 by Lynne Griffith, who at the time was serving as the head of the ferries system, the first woman to hold the office. The ceremony took place at the Vigor Industrial shipyard on Seattle's Harbor Island.