Stumped by what may have happened, the Steamship Authority is investigating damage to eight propeller blades on the vessel Barnstable, which has knocked the freight ferry out of service.
Last Tuesday, Steamship staff outlined the extent of the damage to Port Council members during a regular meeting, showing that parts of the propellers had chipped off to form uneven edges along their blades.
Steamship COO Mark Amundsen said the propellers on both the starboard and port sides seem to have hit a hard object, possibly a rock, although there was no noticeable change in the Barnstable’s thrust before the damage was found during an annual dive survey. Still, he said not knowing exactly when or where the incident occurred was “alarming.”
“Right now we’re at a loss,” Amundsen said. The COO said “deep scraping of what appeared to be non-sand” at the “port forward quarter” makes the ferry line suspect the damage was sustained while the vessel was turning.
The ferry line is using eight blades loaned by Hornbeck Offshore Services, the previous owner of the Barnstable, before it acquires and installs new ones.
The propeller blade damage was mentioned during the Port Council meeting in October, but Tuesday’s meeting was the first time photographs were publicly shown. According to the Steamship vessel tracker, the Barnstable has been at the ferry line’s repair facility in Fairhaven since Oct. 29.
Port Council members were also surprised at the extent of the damage, given that the cause of the extensive damage was unknown. “That’s unbelievable,” said Nat Lowell, Nantucket Port Council representative, on Tuesday after seeing the close-up photographs.
The Barnstable crew had not reported the damage, according to Steamship Director of Engineering and Maintenance Zachary Lawrence. He said the portside blades sustained more damage than those on the starboard side.
As part of the investigation, Amundsen said they will analyze an area off Hyannis suspected to be the source of the damage with side-scan sonar and a remote-operated vehicle.
The Hyannis–Nantucket route has long been an issue for Steamship vessels because of shallow waters and wear on ferries from scraping sand. The ferry line has asked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dredge the waters off Hyannis.
Amundsen noted that the Barnstable sailed at the same draft as its sister vessel Aquinnah; the freight ferry Woods Hole has a slightly deeper draft. Neither of the other vessels received this type of damage while sailing the Nantucket–Hyannis route.
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