A Seattle shipbuilder submitted the only bid to build a new ferry that will eventually restore full service to the Port Townsend to Keystone route.

Todd Pacific Shipyards submitted a bid Thursday to build up to three new 64-car ferries. The shipbuilder submitted a $114 million bid to build the first two vessels, which is slightly higher than the $109 million estimate. The company also submitted a $50 million bid for an optional third ferry, which is lower than the $68.5 million engineer’s estimate.

“I appreciate Todd Pacific shipyards bidding on our work. I think the improved bid is due in part to the positive working relationship the ferry system has established with Todd during the current construction process,” Washington State Ferries assistant secretary David Moseley said in a news release.

Todd Pacific is currently building a 64-car ferry that will sail Admiralty Inlet beginning in the late summer 2010, nearly three years after the previous vessels, the Steel Electrics, were retired from service for safety reasons.

Construction of the new ferries is scheduled to be complete in approximately 20 months. The decision on whether to build the third ferry will be made no later that May 31, 2011.

“This is another example of the significant progress we have made toward rebuilding our agin fleet to meet the growing needs of our ferry system,” State Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond said. “While we still need to identify funding to sustain the system for the long term, I am looking forward to seeing these ferries operating on the Puget Sound in just a few short years.”

The second 64-car ferry would provide a second vessel to serve the Port Townsend to Keystone ferry route during the busy summer months while the third will replace the Rhododendron, which currently operates out of Point Defiance in Tacoma.