Broker offers to buy 2 surplus Washington ferries

An unidentified vessel broker offered to buy two surplus Washington State Ferries passenger boats that once carried commuters between Seattle and Bremerton.

The "unsolicited offer" for the Chinook and the Snohomish came by phone, and the broker "doesn't wish to be identified as yet because the conversations are very preliminary," said ferry system spokeswoman Marta Coursey. The offering price was not released, but Coursey called the proposal "advantageous."

Both ferries were high-speed, catamaran-design vessels and were built to serve the Seattle-Bremerton route.

The Legislature ordered both vessels sold when it decided to take the system out of the passenger-only ferry business.

The Chinook was listed on eBay in February and March but drew no bids. It has been mothballed. The Snohomish has been kept on standby as a backup for the Port Townsend-Keystone route.