The Port of Olympia has been here before.
After a plan to bring in two, 600-foot Ready Reserve Fleet ships fell through in February, the Port of Olympia commission was back at it on Monday, voting 2-1 to bring a 680-foot ship to the marine terminal as early as May 8.
That means the former Washington state ferry, which has been docked at the port for three years, will have to move before then.
The five-year contract the Port Commission approved is with a division of a shipping company called Matson Inc., a business best known for delivering cargo to Alaska, Hawaii and Guam. Similar to the Ready Reserve agreement, the Matson ship, M/V Maunalei, is expected to arrive empty and remain docked at the port until needed by the company, Marine Terminal Director Len Faucher told the port commission on Monday.
The net present value of the five-year agreement is $3.2 million, according to the port.
The commission moved the item from the advisory portion of Monday’s agenda to make it an action item. As an advisory item, the port would have discussed the proposal to bring a ship here, then would have voted on it at a future meeting. Instead, the port voted on it Monday evening.
Commissioner Bill McGregor made the motion to move the agenda item, calling it a “time sensitive” proposal.
Commissioner E.J. Zita voted against the agenda change and against the overall agreement “on the grounds that we’re not following our process and have had inadequate opportunity for public comment.”
Commissioner Joe Downing, who ultimately voted with McGregor to approve the deal, raised his own concerns after Faucher’s presentation on the agreement.
Faucher showed a slide of comparable daily moorage rates charged by other ports in the region, including one at the Port of Tacoma that was lower than the $2,100 per day the port plans to charge Matson.
