Former Washington state ferry departs Port of Olympia
As of about noon Monday, the Port of Olympia is no longer associated with a former Washington state ferry known as the Evergreen State.
That’s because the ferry left the port’s marine terminal and is now headed north through Budd Inlet, being pushed by a tugboat, a port spokeswoman said.
Jennie Foglia-Jones said the port received a message from the ferry owner about 9 p.m. Sunday that the ferry was leaving.
Once the departure was cleared by the Coast Guard, a couple of longshoremen untied the lines and the ferry was pushed away from the dock by a tugboat, she said.
The ferry’s destination was not immediately known. Marine Traffic.com, a ship tracker, showed Monday that the ferry was being pushed by a tug called Westrac II and that its destination was Seattle. The Olympian was unable to reach Bart Lematta, the current owner of the ferry.
The ferry’s departure appears to have ended a saga that began in spring 2018. That’s when the ferry’s former owner docked it at the port, after paying $300,000 to the state for the ferry in 2017.
A plan to move the ferry never materialized and the former owner stopped paying the bills to dock the vessel at the port in 2020. There was a failed attempt to sell the vessel on eBay. The port later sued, the U.S. Marshals Service took custody and the ferry was finally auctioned off to the highest bidder in November 2020.
The winning bidder was Lematta of Vancouver, Washington, whose father, Wes Lematta, the founder of Columbia Helicopters, was a well-known philanthropist. Bart Lematta paid $290,000 for the ferry.
Lematta, who has an interest in sustainability, said he wanted to power the ferry through renewable means.
Lematta signed a series of agreements with the port to keep the vessel at the marine terminal, including a deal in July that would have kept the ferry at the port through spring 2022.
However, the port announced last month the owner had failed to honor the terms of that agreement and he was asked to move the ferry.
The July contract required that the owner secure insurance for the former vessel and post a $1 million security bond, but he failed to do both, according to the port.
The contract was terminated and Lematta was charged a higher daily moorage rate, although he had paid the port through the end of September at the previous rate.
This story was originally published October 4, 2021 at 12:48 PM.
