PORT TOWNSEND — Two North Olympic Peninsula passenger ferry operations are among three vying to provide Port Townsend-Keystone service while the 50-car Steilacoom II is in dry dock for annual maintenance in January.

“We will have a decision in the next few days,” said Hadley Greene, Washington State Ferries spokeswoman.

Those that answered a state ferries request for proposals late last week are Port Townsend’s Puget Sound Express, which normally runs whale-watching charters to the San Juan Islands, Port Angeles-based Victoria Express, which makes summertime runs to Victoria and Friday Harbor, and Mystic Sea Charters, an Anacortes-based charter operation.

As proposed, the Pierce County-owned Steilacoom II ferry, which the state leased last February, would be taken out of service Jan. 4 for inspection and maintenance required annually by the U.S. Coast Guard.

It will be out of service for an estimated four weeks.

P.S. Express operated on the route for a short period nearly a year ago before the Steilacoom II was brought to Port Townsend.

The Steilacoom II is the only vehicle ferry in the region that can handle Keystone Harbor’s challenging shallow conditions.

The car ferry temporarily replaced the two 80-year-old Steel Electric ferries, which were declared unsafe and pulled from the Port Townsend-Keystone route on Nov. 20, 2007.

A 60-car ferry is in the process of being designed and constructed in the next 18 months by Todd Pacific Shipyards of Seattle.

Nine round trips

Greene said the chosen passenger-ferry operator will provide nine round trips a day — the same as the Steilacoom II — but the schedule will be adjusted to match transit connections on the Port Townsend and Whidbey Island sides of Admiralty Inlet.

State ferries will install barges in the vessel slips at both the Port Townsend and Keystone terminals to allow the passenger vessel to land safely and make it easier for passengers to load and unload.

The barges meet federal disabled-accessibility standards and provide direct access to the Port Townsend and Keystone terminals.

Beginning Jan. 5, the Port Townsend/Keystone passenger-only sailing schedule will be:

•âÇLeaving Port Townsend at 6:20 a.m., 8:15 a.m., 10:15 a.m., 12:15 p.m., 2:15 p.m., 3:50 p.m., 5:20 p.m., 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

•âÇLeaving Keystone at 7:10 a.m., 9:10 a.m., 11:10 a.m., 1:10 p.m., 3:10 p.m., 4:35 p.m., 6:10 p.m., 7:45 p.m. and 9:15 p.m.

Passenger fares will remain the same — $2.60 for a one-way full fare.

Wave2Go multi-ride cards will be accepted. The vehicle-holding lanes at both terminals will serve as park-and-ride lots for passengers.

The temporary passenger-only schedule is designed to coordinate as closely as possible with transit service on both sides of the route.

Customers looking for information on transit connections can phone Island Transit at 360-321-6688, ext. 3 or toll free 800-240-8747, or Jefferson Transit at 800-371-0497.

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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsula dailynews.com.