The Steamship Authority has finalized the sale of two of its freight vessels, the Katama and the Gay Head, for a collective $250,000.
The ferry line sold the Gay Head to Robert B. Our, a construction firm based in Harwich, on Dec. 9 for $200,000. The Katama was sold to Offshore Tug & Transportation LLC, a company owned by the Robert B. Our firm, on Dec. 20 for $50,000.
The ferry line originally penned a $166,000 deal with Miami-based shipowner Maurice Denis for the Katama, but the sale fizzled after the “winning bidder was unable to complete the sale by the deadline,” Steamship Authority communications director Sean Driscoll told The Times. Denis also unsuccessfully bid for the Gay Head with a $136,500 offer.
Robert B. Our was the only other bidder for the Katama when the Steamship Authority board approved the sales in October.
How the vessels will be used by their new owners is uncertain. A Robert B. Our representative was not immediately available for comment.
As of Friday, the ship tracking site MarineTraffic shows both vessels are at Marine Hydraulics in New Bedford, a general and hydraulic machinery repairs and maintenance company.
Both the Katama and the Gay Head served the ferry line for more than three decades, joining the ferry line in the late Eighties. The Katama mainly served on the Martha’s Vineyard route, making 80,491 trips, and sailing more than 900,000 miles during its time with the Steamship Authority. The Gay Head, sailing primarily on the Nantucket route, made 55,000 trips and traveled 1.2 million miles during its tenure in the ferry fleet.
The Steamship Authority is replacing its freight ferries with a set of three new vessels. The earliest to arrive in Massachusetts was the Barnstable, which was assigned to the Nantucket route, and was ceremoniously commissioned earlier this month. The other freight vessels that will come into service, the Aquinnah and the Monomoy, are still being refurbished at Alabama Shipyard. The vessels are being built with identical systems to reduce crew training time. Including the $17.48 million to acquire the boats and $12.7 million for contingency spending, the Steamship Authority budgeted $80.99 million for the entire project.
The new freight vessels were originally offshore supply vessels owned by Louisiana-based Honbeck Offshore Services, and purchased by the Steamship Authority in 2022.
The vessel sales and acquisitions followed an April 2022 report from Marine Safety Consultants that a third of the Steamship Authority’s fleet was headed toward obsolescence from age and repair difficulties. This was particularly so for the aging Katama and the Gay Head; the company that manufactured their bow thrusters no longer makes the parts.
That same year, the Steamship Authority also received a report from Elliot Bay Design, the firm that designed the ferry Woods Hole, that Martha’s Vineyard had a route suitable for an all-electric ferry, although it would be an expensive endeavor to acquire batteries and shoreside electrical infrastructure. An all-electric or hybrid fleet was something that had strong public support, but Steamship Authority General Manager Robert Davis said the ferry service was still some time away from making this transition.
