The Steamship Authority’s newest freight ferry, the Aquinnah, was taken out of service due to a hydraulic leak last Thursday, resulting in a number of cancelled trips. It’s the third time the boat has been taken offline since commissioning in May.
The ferry line announced on Thursday night that another freight ferry, the Sankaty, would be sailing in the Aquinnah’s place starting Friday morning, until further notice.
Sean Driscoll, Steamship communications director, said the Aquinnah had a hydraulic leak at the “steering pump/filter.” He said the Aquinnah was expected to be back in service on Friday.
“The MV Sankaty has a lower vehicle capacity, so some customers may need to be accommodated on a different trip than the one they booked. Walk-on passenger cutoffs may also occur,” the announcement reads.
According to the Steamship announcement, passengers who had a vehicle reservation on a canceled Aquinnah trip on Thursday but couldn’t travel should go to the ferry line’s Cataumet parking lot on Friday starting at 7 am. This lot is located on Route 28A.
The Steamship will be blocking bookings for Friday trips to accommodate stranded travelers.
The Aquinnah has had several instances of mechanical issues impacting trips, including late last month because of a blockage in its sanitary system. In early July, it was forced to undergo repairs in Fairhaven as well. Still, according to Driscoll, this was not a concern for the Aquinnah moving forward.
The Aquinnah has since returned to its regular schedule.
This is just the same old for the Steamship Authority. The last one was stuck out in the harbor because it couldn’t steer.
The Martha’s Vineyard had the vehicle door replaced a few years ago and found out they couldn’t open it for a few days after just getting it back from dry dock.
The overall maintenance in these boats is substandard at best.
There is no oversight of this company and no matter who is in charge, it’s run poorly.
Same old same old. The SSA spends multi millions of $$$ on a used vessel. Spends additional millions of $$$ retrofitting it. It’s barely in service and it’s out of service before you can snap your fingers! I can’t believe the state authorities that over see the SSA, don’t pay any attention to how poorly they run this organization. I lived on the Vineyard for 7 years. One of the many reasons I left is because I need to know that the boats are reliable. Between breakdowns, weather, and staffing, the likelihood of getting on or off the island is a crapshoot. It seems like the cost to travel goes up and the service goes down. Something is wrong here??
Too much $$ spent on new SSA buildings and not on the purchase of reliable ferries!
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