The state has extended by a month the bid deadline for construction of a replacement ship for the 62-year-old state ferry Tustumena.

The Alaska Marine Highway System said it extended the deadline from May 28 to June 25 “at the request of bidders.” The job went out for bids in January, looking for a shipyard to construct a new 330-foot-long ferry to serve the cross-Gulf route including the Aleutian Islands 

The state did not respond last week to a request from the Daily News for more information on the bidding extension. In a Facebook post on May 29, the Alaska Marine Highway System reported: “The extension was granted in response to requests from prospective bidders to allow for additional time to finalize comprehensive proposals.”

The design for the replacement ferry was modified in mid-2023 from a diesel-only propulsion system to a diesel-electric hybrid.

“There was never a redesign of the hull when we modified the diesel electric generator power system to provide redundancy. The generators fit within the current designed generator compartments,” the state reported earlier this year.

In addition to a different propulsion system, the replacement ferry will be larger. The Tustumena has capacity for 160 passengers and almost three dozen 20-foot-long vehicles, according to the ferry system. The replacement ship will have capacity for 250 passengers and 58 cars.

The state has not publicly released an estimate for the cost of the new ship, although a fiscal year 2022 state request for federal funding cited a project cost of about $325 million.

Most of the funding is from the federal government.

At the time of Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s announcement of the replacement project in December 2021, the Alaska Department of Transportation estimated the new vessel would cost between $200 million and $250 million.

No Alaska shipyard can build a 330-foot ship. “The potential interested shipyards are in Wisconsin, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Oregon and Washington (state),” the Alaska Department of Transportation spokesperson said earlier this year.

The state’s bid notice provides a project completion date of 2029.