SEATTLE -- There's a new twist to the state's ferry fiasco.

The passenger-only ferry Chinook, which was listed on eBay on two different occasions and each time failed to get any bids, could actually bet put back in service at a much lower cost than what the ferry system first projected.

The state's $4.5 million starting bid for the ferry failed to entice anyone on the online auction site. But it appears the ferry could be put back in service at a much lower cost.

Lawmakers were told to pull the ferries Chinook and Snohomish out of service because the side-loading boats are incompatible with all but one dock - Pier 50 in Seattle - in the system.

Since then the Snohomish has been retrofitted to work as a replacement ferry, but not the Chinook.

That's because the lawmakers were told the cost of reinstating the Chinook would be $4 million, which makes it much more practical to sell the vessel.

But KOMO 4's partner the Seattle Weekly has learned the cost of getting the Chinook back in service would cost up to $1 million.

It turns out the state ferry system has in inventory the bow-loading kit that would make the ferry compatible with all the docks in the system. The repair job would cost anywhere from $75,000 to $1 million.

The Seattle Weekly confirmed its findings with ferry officials, but the information was never given to the House Transportation Committee while it was deciding the fate of the Chinook.

Some committee members say knowing the Chinook could be made to work in an emergency would have changed their plans, and might have provided a small solution to the disrupted runs plaguing the ferry system.

But Department of Transportation Chief Assistant Steve Reinmuth says lawmakers asked for a way to get out of the passenger-only ferry business, not a way to keep the Chinook in service.

Read the entire story on the Seattle Weekly's Web site.