The newest Steamship Authority ferry to serve the Vineyard route is expected to be in the lineup in late fall, several months later than originally anticipated.
The update at the Tuesday morning Port Council meeting follows delays to the delivery of three new freight ferries that the Steamship purchased in 2022.
Work to retrofit the vessels for Steamship infrastructure has been underway on both the Aquinnah and the Barnstable since last spring, at the Alabama Shipyard. Steamship officials initially said the plan was to deliver the vessels north to the Steamship Authority by April. That was eventually pushed back to May; the anticipated summertime debuts for the new freight ferries never occurred, and the vessels are expected to arrive in New England waters this fall.
The Aquinnah, which will sail on the Vineyard route, is scheduled to conduct tests over the month of October. The Steamship Authority will conduct sea trials on Oct. 22, with the U.S. Coast Guard sea trials scheduled two days later. The Barnstable, which will serve the Nantucket route, is expected to be the first to sail New England waters, in the coming weeks.
Mark Admundsen, Steamship Authority director of marine operations, said the conversion of the Barnstable is complete, and is wrapping up testing this month. However, the process will be slowed somewhat with Tropical Storm Francine — expected to intensify into a hurricane — projected to hit Louisiana, where many of the Steamship Authority’s contractors for the vessel are based.
The final step before the Barnstable’s departure from Alabama, the Coast Guard sea trial, is scheduled for Sept. 19. A combination of Steamship Authority crew members and outside hires will be used to bring the Barnstable north, Admundsen said.
Port Council chair and Falmouth representative Robert Munier raised concerns over the delays.
“In June, it was July; in July it was July; in August it was going to be August; and now it’s September, and it’s going to be October for sea trials,” he said. “How do we reconcile that with the dates we were getting for the other boats?”
Amundsen responded that manpower is a continued issue for the boatyard: “As for the date moving to the right, we don’t have a lot of control on that.”
Steamship officials said the freight vessels will be coming up as good products.
Work has also been underway for the Monomoy since August at Alabama Shipyard, the third and final of the new freight ferries to undergo vessel conversion.
“There’ll be a pretty intensive training regimen for people when [the vessels] come up,” Mark Higgins, Steamship Authority COO, said. Higgins said the Steamship Authority is investing nearly $250,000 to get crew members trained.
The three sister vessels have identical systems, which the ferry line expects will speed up training.
I guess the Alabama Shipyard had employee shortages that slowed down retrofitting.
Causing a 6 month delay.
Nothing to see here, move along.
The problem is that there is always something with the Steamship Authority. Truthfulness and on time actions are not their norm, so it is understandable when another delay or changed story, causes ire. Failed reservation system for years, still not fixed. Construction cost overruns in Falmouth. Boat issues. On and on it goes…..
Adam, let’s ask Sean O’Connor if truthfulness is the norm.
the entire meeting can be found online on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YmTqufwCHw
Thanks Tim
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