SSA welcomes the Barnstable

The celebration emphasized that the freight ferry was the start of modernizing the Steamship Authority. 

0
The Barnstable docked in the Hyannis terminal on Monday. The freight vessel is the newest member of the Steamship Authority fleet. - Eunki Seonwoo, MV TImes

The Steamship Authority is holding a commissioning ceremony for the newest vessel in its fleet, the Barnstable on Monday. 

The ceremony and open house is being held at the Hyannis terminal and started at 9:30. Self-guided tours of the freight ferry will run from 11 am to noon before the vessel departs for the Nantucket terminal. There will be the option to take self-guided tours from 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm. The Barnstable will return to Hyannis to berth for the night. 

According to the SSA, the Barnstable will be able to hold around 80 passengers and accommodate about 50 vehicles. 

The newest freight boat, converted from an offshore supply vessel, was one of three the Steamship Authority purchased alongside the Aquinnah — which will sail on the Vineyard route — and the Monomoy. According to the SSA, the purchase was made possible in part through an agreement with the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority that “yielded $28.1 million in federal funding.” 

The ferry line had budgeted $80.99 million, including $12.7 million for contingency spending, on the three refurbished vessels. 

The refurbishment of the Barnstable cut down 245 feet from its original size. The Steamship also boasts the Barnstable has two Caterpillar engines with 2,000 horsepower and three 950 horsepower thrusters with state of the art systems.