One of the Steamship Authority’s newest freight boats, the Barnstable, was taken out of the lineup on Tuesday for a mechanical issue, which resulted in a number of cancelations on the Nantucket route on Tuesday.
The 8:35 am trip from Nantucket and the 10:45 am departure from Hyannis were canceled due to what officials said was a faulty lube oil seal. Steamship communications director Sean Driscoll said that the seal on the port engine of the Barnstable had to be replaced. The 1:30 pm was also canceled but the freight vessel Sankaty stepped in and was able to bring hazardous waste materials to the mainland for the scheduled trip.
Tuesday afternoon, Driscoll said that the Barnstable’s faulty lube oil seal was fixed. According to the Steamship’s vehicle tracker page, the vessel was again running from Nantucket on Wednesday morning and the Steamship is reporting no cancellations.
The Barnstable and its sister vessel, the freight ferry Aquinnah on the Vineyard route, have been taken offline multiple times since their commissionings in December and May respectively.