A day after its debut, the Aquinnah had to cancel several trips on the Vineyard route on the much anticipated “Jaws” 50th anniversary weekend.
In a Sunday morning social media post, the Steamship Authority announced that its newest freight ferry, the Aquinnah, had to cancel trips because of a “blockage in the vessel’s sanitary system.” Steamship communications director Sean Driscoll said four trips were canceled because of a piping problem.
“The women’s and the ADA heads on the vessel were unable to properly drain, both due to a piping configuration issue that was exacerbated by paper towels and other unflushable items being found in the lines,” Driscoll said. (On a boat, a head is a toilet.) “The drains were snaked out, and a plan is being developed to address the piping issue. The timing is certainly unfortunate, but this is a defined issue that will be addressed.”
The freight ferry experienced some delays from vehicle loading on Monday, as well.
On Sunday, passengers with vehicle reservations were taken aboard other vessels on a “space-available basis.” Trip bookings were also blocked for new reservations on Sunday so the ferry line could accommodate displaced customers. Driscoll did not have an estimate of how many vehicles had to be accommodated.
The Aquinnah was first brought into the Steamship’s lineup on Saturday.
The refurbished freight vessel was the second of three sister freight ferries that joined the ferry line with much fanfare last month during a commissioning ceremony.
The first of the new freight ferries, the Barnstable, missed its inaugural trip on the Nantucket route earlier this year, and the Steamship Authority had to resolve issues with the vessel, including installing a block heater to keep lubricants flowing. The last of these freight ferries, the Monomoy, is scheduled to conduct its stability test, one of the last steps before a sea trial,on August 20.
Meanwhile, the passenger ferry Martha’s Vineyard canceled a morning round-trip from Woods Hole on Monday because a valve between the fuel storage tank and the fuel “day tank” needed to be replaced. Driscoll said that means the normal procedures for vessel fueling for daytime use had to be “modified, and are taking longer than usual.”
“Out of an abundance of caution, the trip was canceled to ensure sufficient fuel for the crossing,” Driscoll said. “A replacement valve is in the process of being procured.”
Larry David couldn’t write a script this good!
Who is John Gault ?
Had a scheduled reservation off MV on Sunday 6-22-25, the 11:05am. An hour before departure I received a text from SSA that the 11:05 was cancelled due to maintenance issues (later found out it was a staffing issue and not related to maintenance). I finally got off as a space A at 4:30 pm.
Question/suggestion, when a leg is cancelled why can’t the cancelled vehicles be transferred to the next sailing from that port and so on down the line until everyone is accommodated. This way no one is incenvienced for more than 2 hours as opposed to the cancelled ‘reservationists’ being treated like lepers for what could be the entire day. Thoughts.
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