The Steamship Authority (SSA) board met Tuesday in Hyannis and received a report from general manager Wayne Lamson on plans for the boatline’s newest passenger/vehicle ferry, to be named Woods Hole.
Mr. Lamson said the SSA is currently reviewing the final drawings and specifications so that Elliott Bay Design Group can submit the full design package to the U.S. Coast Guard by the end of the August. The new ferry is expected to be delivered in April 2016 at an estimated cost of $41 million.
Also Tuesday, Mr. Lamson discussed a letter he received from the Tisbury selectmen expressing their strong opposition to the new ferry’s single-ended design, according to a written management synopsis of the meeting. The selectmen asked the SSA to reconsider its decision, made in August 2013, and meet to discuss the selectmen’s position.
Mr. Lamson told the board the SSA has carefully considered the impacts of the new ferry on Vineyard Haven Harbor. “After many months, we concluded that what the Authority needs at this time is an improved single-ended freight boat that can be used as a utility vessel on both the Martha’s Vineyard route and the Nantucket route, and can carry more trucks and more passengers than the Authority’s other freight boats,” Mr. Lamson said.
Mr. Lamson noted, “Single-ended vessels are much more reliable in the types of sea conditions that often exist during the 26-mile journey between Hyannis and Nantucket, and they are less expensive to both build and operate.”
He said the Woods Hole has been designed with features such as a bulbous bow and controllable pitch propellers to increase its efficiency and to reduce its wake wash.
“All of these features will mitigate its impacts not only in Vineyard Haven Harbor, but in all of the other harbors in which it will be operating during all times of the year,” Mr. Lamson said.