Updated 10/14 @ 1:30 pm
After missing most of its afternoon and evening trips on Thursday and early Friday morning, the Steamship Authority’s Island Home is back in service.
“Repairs have been completed to the vessel. It is currently making its 8:15 am trip from Woods Hole and is running late, but it is back in service,” SSA spokesman Sean Driscoll wrote in an email a full hour after that trip was to depart. “We thank our customers for their patience.”
The SSA’s largest ferry, Island Home, was sidelined Thursday afternoon with mechanical issues. The problem with the vessel had to do with an engine cooling system, Driscoll said.
“It’s under investigation,” Driscoll said at the time.
On Friday, Driscoll told The Times via email that sediment was observed in the water jacket, which is part of the cooling system for the ferry’s main engine. “The coolant system was flushed this morning and the vessel was cleared for operation,” he wrote. “The system will be monitored today, and the coolant will be replaced this evening after the vessel ends its service day.”
The vessel was replaced by the much-smaller freight ferry, MV Katama.
On Thursday night, the SSA released an alert saying that the ferry would remain down into Friday and that some vehicles traveling from Woods Hole to the Vineyard would not be accommodated on Thursday night.
“The MV Katama will run in its place, but due to the lower vehicle capacity, it is likely that some vehicles will not be able to make their scheduled trips from Woods Hole to Vineyard Haven,” the alert stated. “Those customers with reservations on the M/V Island Home tonight may receive a free voucher for parking and travel as a passenger tonight to the Vineyard. We anticipate that all customers with reservations from Vineyard Haven to Woods Hole should be able to be accommodated.”
On Friday, Driscoll said that six customers with reservations took advantage of the free parking. He added that 10 other customers decided not to travel.
The alert went on to say that the Katama is expected to run in the Island Home’s place on Friday as well. “Once a diagnosis of the issue is made and a repair plan established, we will have more information on vessel assignments for the remainder of the day,” the alert states. “We expect passenger cutoffs to occur on the MV Katama, so walk-on passengers are encouraged to please take another departure if possible.”
Meanwhile, online booking was temporarily suspended on the Vineyard for Thursday and Friday, the alert stated. “We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.”
The U.S. Coast Guard hasn’t been apprised of the issue, according to Petty Officer Briana Carter.
An electric ferry will never be cancelled due to a problem with cooling the motor.
Just sayin’
How many layers of fossil fuel infrastructure and ongoing support would you suspect it takes to
develop and maintain a fleet of, say, ten electric ferries ? And at what cost. ?
Eddie– I have been through the numbers and the logistics.
There are many electric ferries in the world. The results are pretty conclusive– they are easier to maintain, as the drive trains have thousands fewer moving parts. They are cheaper in the long run.
Also, regardless of whether you think a guy who can’t tie his shoe laces managed to wrestle control over the free market regulating the price of diesel fuel . or a psychopathic megalomaniacal dick tater caused it, the price of diesel fuel soared this past summer.
The SSA uses about 1.6 million gallons of the stuff every year.
How many layers of fossil fuel infrastructure and ongoing support do you think it takes to get that stuff out of the ground in Texas and into the tanks of the ferries ?
The price for electricity from the Vineyard One windfarm will be locked in with long term contracts.
Mr Driscoll the patience of us islanders are running very very thin with the SSA/MBTA. Between the “costs” of island living and the SSA it’s no wonder the NATIVES are packing up
Just think about life without the SSA.
It was created for a reason.
So that natives could and go in the Winter.
Do you want to leave that to unrestrained Free Market Capatalism?
The way to lower the cost is to build a bridge…