KINGSTON – The Kingston Express, used in the Port of Kingston’s now-defunct SoundRunner passenger ferry service, has been approved for sale to a Bellingham company for $250,000.
The offer from Pacific Cruises Northwest is half of what the Port of Kingston initially had hoped to get for the vessel. But it’s not the first time commissioners have lowered their expectations for the sale.
“We started marketing it at $500,000 and got absolutely no bites,” Port Executive Director Jim Pivarnik said.
In November, commissioners lowered the price to $299,500.
With Kitsap Transit’s fast-ferry service coming to the marina this summer, the deadline to move the boat — currently moored to the barge where the new ferry will moor — is fast-approaching.
Marketing the boat to ferry services wasn’t an effective means of selling the vessel, Pivarnik said, due to the fact that most ferry services are seeking to incorporate faster, catamaran-style ferries instead of the slower, mono-hull design of vessels like the Kingston Express. While it may not have been well-suited for life as a ferry, it appears that the future has more elegant plans for the Kingston Express.
“Their interest in this boat is an interesting one,” Pivarnik said. “They’re looking at stripping the inside and making it a dinner cruise boat. They would take all the seats out, they would use the forward compartment for a kitchen, use the [former] kitchen as a bar and go out on Bellingham Bay for dinner cruises.”
The red-hulled ship has been a prominent feature on the Kingston waterfront since SoundRunner ferry service ceased in 2012; the port ended SoundRunner, its second attempt at providing service to and from Seattle, because fares weren’t covering the operating cost.
The ferry was originally bought to serve as a backup for the Spirit of Kingston; both were purchased with a $3.5 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration. After service stopped, the port was required to either transfer ownership of the boats to another public agency or pay back the grant money. In 2013, ownership of the Spirit of Kingston was transferred to the King County Ferry District, but the Kingston Express remained unsold.
According to Pivarnik, the port still owes about $440,000 on the Kingston Express, but he thinks he might be able to negotiate a lower cost to pay back the FTA.
“Worst-case scenario is we’re going to have to come up with $200,000 of our own money. Best case is maybe $150,000,” Pivarnik said. “We’ve had discussions with FTA. I think they’re sympathetic to the cause. It’s been five years on the dock, we’ve actively tried to sell it [and] haven’t been able to. I sent them a copy of the survey that clearly shows that it’s not worth what they say is on the books. So I’m hoping that we can come to some kind of a compromise.”
Compromise or not, Pivarnik said he was ready to be rid of the boat once and for all. Port commissioners Bruce MacIntyre, Laura Gronnvoll and Mary McClure echoed Pivarnik’s sentiments.
“It really does sound like the time to cut our losses and just move on,” MacIntyre said.
“We’re going to have to settle up with FTA whenever. I mean, it’s sitting out there waiting for us,” McClure noted.
“And if we keep it, it’s just going to continue to cost us more money,” Gronnvoll added. “And its value is going to continue to go down in the outside world’s eyes.”
— Nick Twietmeyer is a reporter for Kitsap News Group. Contact him at ntwietmeyer@soundpublishing.com.
