The conversion of the Steamship Authority’s latest freight ferry has been impacted by the federal government shutdown, now entering its third week.
Steamship officials report that as the Monomoy — the third of three sister freight vessels, including the Barnstable and the Aquinnah, that the ferry line purchased — undergoes refurbishment at Alabama Shipyard, the review of its stability test by the U.S. Coast Guard’s Marine Safety Center has been delayed. The test looks at the carrying-load capacity and a vessel’s ability to remain upright.
Some federal workers have been furloughed during the shutdown, and while the Coast Guard continues essential functions, such as the rescue operations that occurred on Monday in Woods Hole, other duties, like issuing approvals, have been put on pause. That’s while Congress wrestles with a new funding bill, with entrenched Republicans and Democrats opposing one another on whether healthcare tax credits should be extended.
“The Coast Guard is continuing to execute its legally mandated operations, including safeguarding national security, protecting life, and preserving property,” Coast Guard Lt. Commander Steve Roth said in a statement. “Uniformed personnel will continue to maintain essential services to control, secure, and defend the U.S. border and maritime approaches, facilitate commerce vital to economic prosperity, and respond to crises or contingencies. Other activities will be reduced or paused until funding is restored, which will limit our capacity to fully maintain mission readiness.”
Zachary Lawrence, Steamship director of engineering and maintenance, told the Port Council on Tuesday morning that a date for a sea trial for the Monomoy, one of the final steps before it can enter the ferry line’s service, has not yet been determined. While the Trump administration plans to pay service members with unused research funds, it’s uncertain when the Marine Safety Center will resume reviewing stability tests.
Meanwhile, Lawrence said the Monomoy has had work done so it doesn’t encounter the same mechanical issues as the Barnstable and the Aquinnah. Those vessels had previously sailed in the warmer Gulf of Mexico waters; the Barnstable — the first to arrive in Massachusetts — wasn’t ready for the colder New England climate, leading to an issue with the boat’s thermostat control valve. A seal on a reduction gear lube oil cooler broke as a result, which led to a leak. This also led the Barnstable to miss its first ferry run to Nantucket in January. The Aquinnah, meanwhile, had its own piping issues, which resulted in several canceled trips a day after its debut on the Vineyard route.
“The vast majority of hurdles that we found on Aquinnah and Barnstable, we’ve made those changes to Monomoy,” Lawrence said.
Additionally, Lawrence said the Monomoy will have a longer skeg than its sister vessels. A skeg helps a boat move straight without sliding to the side, and can protect the propeller from being damaged by underwater objects.
Steamship Communications Director Sean Driscoll told The Times the Monomoy’s skeg was altered “in response to feedback from personnel about low-speed maneuverability.”
“We will wait for further feedback on the Monomoy’s performance before deciding if we will perform the same modification to the sister ships,” Driscoll said.
During the Port Council meeting, Steamship COO Mark Amundsen said that the Barnstable was recently found to have sustained damage on the “leading edge” of its four propeller blades during an underwater survey, and that the ferry line is inspecting the issue. The propellers of the Aquinnah and the Woods Hole, vessels that have sailed on the same route as the Barnstable, had no damage. Amundsen said shipyards have been solicited for repairs to the freight ferry, which is currently docked in Fairhaven.
The changes to the vessels have increased the costs for refurbishing all three vessels more than the Steamship anticipated. Including purchasing and converting the boats, and hiring personnel to bring them up north, the Steamship Authority had budgeted $80.99 million with $12.7 million in contingency. There has been $4.4 million in change orders so far, and the ferry line is now estimating the entire project to cost $85.4 million.
Democrats have now voted more than 8 times to keep the government closed!! Thanks Chuck!
And republicans have now voted more than 8 times to keep the government closed ! Thanks Mike !
The Republicans have voted 8 times for Americans to lose their health insurance.
About 30 seconds of research and you’d know that Obamacare (ACA) …
Democrats passed Obamacare which made deductibles so high that you rarely ever reach them, so you pay for insurance plus out of pocket for insurance you rarely use.
The working class ends of footing the bill. From 2014 to 2021 it was getting worse. Then Biden and the Democrats passed temporary subsidies to hide how crazy expensive ACA insurance had become. Those subsidies expire Dec 31, 2025.
Now Democrats want to extend those subsidies. If they could, they would even expand the subsidies more to further hide the disaster of Obamacare.
Before Obamacare health insurance companies could offer cheaper plans with certain things excluded. But Obamacare banned those cheaper plans.
Thanks to Biden…
It’s pretty clear that Schumer’s strategy is being shaped by pressure from the progressive wing, especially figures like AOC. As Senate leader, he’s not just battling Republicans — he’s also looking over his shoulder at his own party.
AOC has huge name recognition, a massive fundraising base, and real energy among younger progressives in New York. She doesn’t even have to say she’s running to make Schumer nervous — just the possibility is enough to keep him guarding his left flank.
By holding firm on the shutdown, Schumer’s signaling to progressives that he won’t “sell out.” If he cut a quick deal, it could easily be spun as weakness and make a primary challenge more realistic.
But that kind of political calculation has real consequences. Millions of Americans are getting squeezed — paychecks are delayed, services are stalled, and small businesses are feeling the pain.
This isn’t some D.C. chess game. Real families, federal workers, and communities are getting hurt every single day while politicians posture.
Republicans continue to fail to put legislation on the table that will gain the the number of votes required for passage.
Thanks Don.
Five Republicans failed to vote for the Republican proposal.
The MAGA blame game.
Reminds me of a joke years ago when the teamsters union went on strike. People would say, ”how do we know?” there was no difference between when they were working or when they were on strike. Same with Government. Keep it closed and maybe save some money.
I do hope you’re not planning on flying anywhere soon, Andrew.
Let’s just keep spending money like drunken sailors.
Trump has borrowed more money than any other president. Where’s it going? His private ice, ice army?
Thank you all. Your interest in seeing our country thrive is remarkable.
How many new ferries could the SSA have purchased for $84.7 million and climbing ? These old vessels can’t make proper speed to maintain the schedule and when finally complete will be just three old boats that are not compatible with the needs of our fleet. They should have built a second M/V Woods Hole for the future needs of the company.
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