Damaged propeller leads to SSA boat swap

By
Eunki Seonwoo
-
22
The Steamship Authority ferry Woods Hole. —MV Times

Updated

The Steamship Authority ferry Woods Hole is out of commission due to damaged propellers, which could cause passenger cutoffs.

Why the propeller broke remains unclear, but the SSA is investigating, and says once the boat is in dry-dock, it will know more.

The ferry line issued an online advisory Tuesday, August 27, stating that the smaller freight ferry, the Governor, will be running in place of the Woods Hole. “Due to a reduced capacity of the MV Governor, some travelers may experience delays,” the advisory reads. “We apologize for the inconvenience.”

The vehicle lift decks on the ferry Island Home will also be used “whenever possible” to accommodate passengers, Steamship Authority spokesperson Geoff Spillane told the Times. 

Spillane said the crew of the Woods Hole noted an “irregularity” with the vessel while it was traveling on Monday. After an initial internal inspection, the ferry line’s engineering team brought over divers to look at the hull on Monday night. 

“The divers discovered and removed a line from the port shaft, but also noted some damage to the portside propeller blades,” Spillane told the Times on Tuesday afternoon. “This morning, divers returned to perform additional inspections to the shaft and propeller. While no damage was identified to the shaft, the damage to the propeller blades requires the vessel to be dry-docked for repairs.”

The Woods Hole was scheduled to be dry-docked at Thames Shipyard and Repair in New London, Conn., on Wednesday. The vessel is expected to be repaired and back in service by Friday.

Updated with additional information from the Steamship Authority. 

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22 COMMENTS

  2. Have they identified the source of the entangled line?

    SSA own docking lines?
    Fishing Lines?
    Lobster pot lines?

    • If it was just fouled lone, particularly pot warp,
      It would not need to be hauled.
      A diver with a sharp knife would have it cleared in an hour.

  3. For those who wonder what a “line” is—
    it’s a rope– you know, like the ones the
    lobster fisher persons use to catch and kill lobsters
    and sometimes inadvertently kill whales.
    I would like to see an ad on the ferry asking if your
    lobster canceled a ferry .

    • Good lord Don. Now you tell us you’re against lobstermen? Lobster rolls? What’s next? Fishing? Scalloping? Beef? Chicken? My Thanksgiving turkey?

      • Peter– I wonder if you remember in the 2020 campaign
        the right wing media was telling us that we would be rationed
        to one hamburger a month.
        They are at it again.
        Here is lyin’ flyin’ Ted just a few weeks ago spreading the fear.
        https://x.com/atrupar/status/1816282594008285377?s=46&t=UKR1TShxVeunp4_vn5gZrw
        I guess since they are going to take your
        guns, you gas powered car, your stove, your
        ceiling fans, your a/c and your hamburgers,
        why not take your lobsters and your thanksgiving
        turkey ? I’m sure you remember the cries and howls
        when it was “revealed ” that the “leftists” were waging
        a war on Thanksgiving . They apparently gave up on the war
        on Christmas and all the other cancel culture and woke wars.
        But really, where do you get the idea that I am “against”
        lobster fisher persons ?
        That’s as ridiculous as calling me an anti-semite.

    • Donald– you don’t have to shout. When i was in the navy,
      everything from sewing thread to the ropes that secured the ship
      was referred to as “line”, whether it was “in use” or not .
      . Where do you get the idea that it somehow
      changes when “in use” or not ?
      The fact is that the ferry got entangled in some sort
      of rope or line or whatever you want to call it.
      I’m happy it didn’t wash up dead on a beach somewhere.

    • Donald is onto something.

      https://www.boatingwithdawsons.com/blog/difference-rope-line/#:~:text=Rope%20is%20unemployed%20cordage.,line%2C%20fender%20line%2C%20etc.

      “Rope is unemployed cordage. In other words, when it is in a coil and has not been assigned a job, it is just a rope. On the other hand, when you prepare a rope for a specific task, it becomes employed and is a line. The line is labeled by the job it performs; for example, anchor line, dock line, fender line, etc.”

      I really like “unemployed cordage” for some reason. Would make a good band name.

      I don’t know what to call it when the employment is accidental, though.

      Self-employed line?

        • It’s interesting that some people say the economy is in trouble—yet they personally were still at the store buying things they wanted. That’s one of the reasons we had inflation—people were earning more money and they were willing to buy new things, even at ever increasing higher prices.

          • People who have no understanding of food insecurity may also find it “interesting” that many families must opt for the ramen instead of the healthy protein while they’re doing their marketing. Hey, they’re shopping so their kids can’t be that hungry. How interesting that liberals write off hunger, housing, unaffordable medical needs, marine life, professional fishermen and women, oh, and a dismissed, harassed Jewish community. The hypocrisy of liberals calling themselves compassionate, while being serious about “Americans can’t be very hungry if they’re shopping” is reason not to trust anything they say. It’s heartless and hateful. You’ve outdone yourself this time, Mary. Really, I find your comment here (and in other threads), cruel. Let them eat cake?

            Minimizing the basic needs of human beings to make a liberal’s ugly point is like walking by a person sleeping on a sidewalk and noticing he’s wearing shoes so you tell yourself it can’t be that bad if he’s got shoes.

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