The Steamship Authority ferry Martha’s Vineyard hit a Jay Cashman construction barge Wednesday afternoon in Woods Hole. The incident appears to have caused little or no damage to either vessel. The SSA blamed wind and tidal forces for sending the ferry against the barge.
“The boat brushed the barge this afternoon while leaving Woods Hole,” SSA spokesman Sean Driscoll texted The Times Wednesday night. “The extent of the damage was paint transfer between the barge and the boat.” Driscoll went on to write that no injuries were reported, and the Coast Guard, after being informed, determined “no further action was needed.”
Petty Officer Ryan Noel said no paperwork was filed by the Coast Guard, and that officials he spoke with at Station Woods Hole characterized the impact as a “bump.”
On Wednesday evening, during a report to the Dukes County Commissioners, SSA board chairman Marc Hanover used the incident to highlight the dangers posed by the largest barge at the Woods Hole Project construction site.
“We’re dealing with a 150-foot barge in the middle slip that is making it very difficult for the captains, in any kind of weather, to get … safely into Woods Hole, or leave Woods Hole safely as well,” he said. “It’s a real navigation hazard for our captains.”
Hanover said the SSA has asked Cashman to put more lighting on the barge. Hanover further said he has personally asked that if the barge is not in use for three days or more, that it be moved out of the way — a cumbersome task, he admitted.
“The issue with moving the barges is it takes two to four hours, so you theoretically lose a day’s work moving the barges back and forth,” he said.
At an SSA board meeting Tuesday, New Bedford representative Moira Tierney insisted general manager Robert Davis communicate when the barge interferes with ferry travel, which it has on several occasions.
Of Wednesday’s incident, Hanover said, the vessel “ran along the side of one of the barges — no damage to the boat, no dent on the barge …”
Thursday morning Driscoll confirmed the big, protruding barge, the one Hanover complained about, was the one the Martha’s Vineyard hit.
“It was not a particularly windy day, but the wind and tide were both headed in the direction of the barge,” Driscoll wrote.
A person who answered the phone at Cashman in Quincy Thursday morning said the company was not aware of the incident, but would look into it.
