{{Short description|Passenger ferry operated by Washington State Ferries}} {{Infobox ship |section1={{Infobox ship/image | image = Tokitae.jpg | image_caption = ''Tokitae'' en route from Clinton to Mukilteo, 2015 }}
|section2={{Infobox ship/career | hide_header = | name = ''Tokitae'' | owner = [[Washington State Department of Transportation]] | operator = [[Washington State Ferries]] | registry = Seattle, Washington, United States | ordered = 2011 | builder = [[Vigor Shipyards]], [[Seattle, Washington]] | original_cost = $144 million<ref>{{cite web |title=Olympic Class (144-Car) Ferries |url=http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/ferries/144carferries/ |publisher=[[Washington State Department of Transportation]] |accessdate=September 10, 2016 |archive-date=April 14, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150414041912/http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/ferries/144carferries/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> | yard_number = | way_number = | laid_down = March 29, 2012 | launched = July 19, 2013 | completed = | christened = March 20, 2014 | acquired = | maiden_voyage = June 30, 2014 | in_service = June 30, 2014 | out_of_service = | identification = *[[Maritime call sign|Call sign]]: WDH3588 *{{IMO Number|9720160}} *{{MMSI|367608860}} | fate = | status = In service | notes = }}
|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics | hide_header = | header_caption = | class = {{sclass2|Olympic|ferry|0}} [[Ferry|auto/passenger ferry]] | tonnage = | displacement = {{cvt|4384|lt|t|lk=in}} | length = {{convert|362|ft|3|in|m|1|abbr=on}} | beam = {{convert|83|ft|2|in|m|1|abbr=on}} | height = | draught = | draft = {{convert|18|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} | depth = {{convert|24|ft|6|in|m|1|abbr=on}} | decks = 5 (2 vehicle decks, passenger deck, sun deck, nav bridge deck) | deck_clearance = {{convert|16|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} | ramps = | ice_class = | sail_plan = | power = {{convert|6,000|hp|abbr=on}} total from two [[EMD 710|EMD 12-710G7C]] diesel engines | propulsion = Diesel | speed = {{convert|17|kn|0|lk=in}} | capacity = *1,500 passengers *144 vehicles (max 34 tall vehicles) | crew = 14 (12 with sun deck closed) | notes = }} }}
'''MV ''Tokitae''''' is an {{sclass2|Olympic|ferry|0}} [[Ferry|passenger ferry]] operated by [[Washington State Ferries]] which entered service on June 30, 2014. It serves the [[Mukilteo-Clinton ferry|Mukilteo-Clinton]] route.
==Naming== On November 13, 2012, the [[Washington State Transportation Commission]] named the ferry ''Tokitae''. ''Tokitae'' is a colloquial greeting that means "nice day, pretty colors" in [[Chinook Jargon]].<ref name="EH 20121113"/>
[[File:M-V Tokitae in Possesion Sound.jpg|thumb|MV ''Tokitae'' en route to Clinton, Whidbey Island.]]
''Tokitae'' was also the earliest name of an [[orca]] that had been captured in [[Penn Cove]], Whidbey Island. Jesse White, the veterinarian who bought the captured orca in Seattle for the Miami Seaquarium, gave her that name, but she was renamed [[Lolita (orca)|Lolita]] in Miami. Orca Network promoted the choice of ''Tokitae'' for the ferry under construction, to promote the cause of returning the captive orca to her natal waters,<ref name="ON 130">{{cite web |last=Garrett |first=Howard |title=Lolita Update #130 |url=https://indigo-ukulele-jm29.squarespace.com/lolita-update-130 |website=Orca Network |access-date=August 20, 2023 |location=[[Freeland, Washington]] |date=November 14, 2012}}</ref> and the Washington state government was sympathetic. The ferry's route crosses a passage where the orca and her orca community were chased during her capture.<ref name="EH 20121113">{{cite news |date=November 13, 2012 |title=Two new ferries named Samish, Tokitae |url=http://www.heraldnet.com/news/two-new-ferries-named-samish-tokitae/ |publisher=[[The Everett Herald]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |access-date=August 20, 2023}}</ref><ref name="Colby, 2018 p308">{{cite book |last=Colby |first=Jason M. |title=Orca: how we came to know and love the ocean's greatest predator |year=2018 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |isbn=9780190673116 |page=308}}</ref><ref name="Clinton Ferry Schedule">{{cite web |title=Clinton Ferry Schedule 2023 |url=https://clintonferryschedule.com/ |website=Clinton Ferry Schedule |access-date=August 19, 2023}}</ref> [[File:M-V Tokitae Departing Mukilteo.jpg|thumb|MV ''Tokitae'' departing Mukilteo]]
==History== ===Construction===
[[File:Tokitae under construction at Vigor.jpg|thumb|MV ''Tokitae''{{'}}s superstructure arriving at Vigor Shipyards in March 2013]] The contracts for the ''Tokitae'' were signed on November 1, 2011,<ref>{{cite press release |last=Moseley |first=David |date=November 4, 2011 |title=Construction to start on new 144-car ferry |url=http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/105768E1-30AA-4CC4-9FE2-AF7DD36B3258/79915/MoseleyWeeklyUpdate_110411.pdf |publisher=Washington State Ferries |accessdate=September 10, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304075901/http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/105768E1-30AA-4CC4-9FE2-AF7DD36B3258/79915/MoseleyWeeklyUpdate_110411.pdf |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and its keel was laid on March 29, 2012.<ref>{{cite press release |last=Moseley |first=David |date=March 30, 2012 |title=144-car ferry milestone |url=http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/105768E1-30AA-4CC4-9FE2-AF7DD36B3258/82913/MoseleyWeeklyUpdate_033012.pdf |publisher=Washington State Ferries |accessdate=September 10, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304105906/http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/105768E1-30AA-4CC4-9FE2-AF7DD36B3258/82913/MoseleyWeeklyUpdate_033012.pdf |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
The ''Tokitae''{{'}}s hull was rolled out of the Vigor construction building onto a drydock on March 2, 2013. It was joined by the completed superstructure the following week; it was built by Nichols Brothers Boat Builders of [[Freeland, Washington|Freeland]], a community on [[Whidbey Island]].<ref>{{cite press release |date=March 12, 2013 |title=Nichols Brothers Boat Builders Launch 144-Car Washington State Ferry Superstructure |url=http://www.nicholsboats.com/pdfs/news/WSF%20Superstructure%20Launch-NBBB%202013-03-12.pdf |publisher=Nichols Brothers Boat Builders |accessdate=September 10, 2016}}</ref>
The ferry was floated out of its dry dock and launched in Elliott Bay on July 19, 2013.<ref>{{cite news |last=Friedrich |first=Ed |date=October 19, 2013 |title=Smoother sailing on construction of 144-car ferries |url=http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/local/355869981.html |work=[[Kitsap Sun]] |accessdate=September 10, 2016}}</ref> The ''Tokitae'' was christened by state Secretary of Transportation Lynn Peterson on March 20, 2014 at Vigor, during a ceremony opened to the media, officials and workers.<ref>{{cite news |last=Van Bronkhorst |first=Erin |date=March 20, 2014 |title=State's newest ferry, Tokitae, is christened at Seattle shipyard |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/2014/03/states-newest-ferry-tokitae-christened-at-seattle.html |work=[[Puget Sound Business Journal]] |accessdate=September 10, 2016}}</ref>
===Launch and early problems===
The official public unveiling occurred on June 8, 2014, at the [[Clinton, Washington|Clinton]] ferry terminal.<ref>{{cite news |last=Haglund |first=Noah |date=June 8, 2014 |title=Whidbey Island welcomes new ferry Tokitae |url=http://www.heraldnet.com/news/whidbey-island-welcomes-new-ferry-tokitae/ |work=The Everett Herald |accessdate=September 10, 2016}}</ref> The ferry made its maiden voyage on June 30, 2014.<ref>{{cite news |last=Friedrich |first=Ed |date=June 30, 2014 |title=Tokitae begins service this week with problematic ramps |url=http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/local/tokitae-begins-service-this-week-with-problematic-ramps-ep-509799281-355478181.html |work=Kitsap Sun |accessdate=September 10, 2016}}</ref> The ''Tokitae''{{'}}s first week of service was marred by a hydraulic leak and a design flaw that caused cars to scrape against the car ramps.<ref>{{cite news |last=Provenza |first=Nick |date=July 1, 2014 |title=Some cars scrape on new Washington ferry Tokitae |url=http://www.columbian.com/news/2014/jul/01/slow-start-for-new-washington-state-ferry-tokitae/ |work=[[The Columbian]] |agency=Associated Press |accessdate=September 10, 2016}}</ref> In the vessel's first 13 months it lost propulsion a total of 18 times.<ref name="KIRO">{{cite news |last=Horcher |first=Gary |date=April 15, 2015 |title=Ferry Tokitae loses power with 173 passengers on board |url=http://www.kiro7.com/news/ferry-tokitae-loses-power-drifting-water-mukilteo/43485873 |publisher=[[KIRO-TV|KIRO 7 News]] |accessdate=September 10, 2016}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category|IMO 9720160}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20090327130726/http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/E18CADE8-0195-43DA-93AB-51BBCD140BA8/0/VesselMap.pdf Ferry Plans] *[http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/your_wsf/our_fleet/index.cfm?fuseaction=classes Washington State Ferries class information]
{{WSF Ferry Classes}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tokitae}} [[Category:Washington State Ferries vessels]] [[Category:2013 ships]] [[Category:Ships built in Seattle]]