Court authorizes sale of former Washington state ferry at Olympia port
A federal court has authorized the sale of a former Washington state ferry that has been moored at the Port of Olympia for more than two years, the port’s legal counsel announced this week.
The court also granted the port its monetary judgment against the vessel — an amount that’s about $70,000 — plus the port can recover its custody costs from the proceeds of the sale, said Heather Burgess during Monday’s port commission meeting.
Those costs include gangway repairs and the cost of moorage since the vessel was “arrested” and “taken into custody” last month, she said.
The sales process and date is still to be determined, but the sale won’t take place before the port’s next regular commission meeting on Oct. 26, Burgess said.
Commissioner Joe Downing said he is excited to see the process moving forward, but he also asked: What happens if no one buys the ferry?
Burgess said she wasn’t prepared to answer that question on Monday, but would look into it.
Commissioner E.J. Zita said there has been a lot of public interest in the future of the ferry.
“We have gotten lots of suggestions from members of the public,” she said, adding that those ideas include turning the ferry into a homeless shelter, an arts and entertainment venue, and a business venue.
“People are interested in seeing something done with this and I hope it turns out to be a good thing for the community,” she said.
According to The Olympian’s previous reporting, a business called Jones Broadcasting LLC purchased the former Evergreen State ferry from the state in 2017 for $300,000. Washington State Ferries said at the time that the new owner planned to use the old ferry for ferry service in the “protected waters of the southern Caribbean.”
After the vessel docked in Olympia, the owner wasn’t always timely in payments to the port, then stopped paying this year. There also was a failed attempt to sell the ferry on eBay.
The port later sued the owner, Jones Global Investment LLC, in federal district court and the ferry was taken into custody.
This story was originally published October 14, 2020 at 5:45 AM.
