The first of the Steamship Authority’s three new freight boats is finished and waiting on an inspection from the U.S. Coast Guard before it can ply the waters of the Cape and Islands. 

The M/V Barnstable, a repurposed offshore oil vessel, could join the boat line’s fleet later this fall after more than a year’s work at the Alabama Shipyard in Mobile. 

The new ferry is tentatively scheduled to undergo Coast Guard tests on Sept. 19, said Mark Amundsen, the Steamship director of engineering and maintenance. After that, it could undergo an eight-day sail to the boat line’s shipyard in Fairhaven. 

The ship’s arrival is eagerly awaited by Steamship officials, who say the three new boats will increase capacity while streamlining training and maintenance.

When the ship will get here isn’t clear though, and the Steamship Authority port council Tuesday learned that the region’s weather could delay the process. 

“Hurricane Francine is going to be hitting Louisiana over the next two days,” said Mr. Amundsen. “One downside that does affect us, all of our prime contractors are from Louisiana…They’ve gone home for obvious reasons and we don’t know the effect of that until after the hurricane passes here.”

The Steamship Authority in 2022 purchased two offshore vessels that had previously worked in the oil and gas industry on the Gulf Coast. The boat line later opted to buy a third boat, and all were being converted into freight ferries.

The first two boats are expected to cost upwards of $13 million a piece and the third around $17 million. 

The three ferries are planned to be identical, making it easier to order parts and shift staff around from ferry to ferry. All of the other Steamship ferries are different, and deck officers have to be trained on each individual vessel to pilot them. 

The ferries will also be larger than the Katama and Gay Head, a pair of freight boats that are slated to be retired and potentially sold.

The conversion work has been through several delays and the second boat — named the M/V Aquinnah — is not expected to undergo sea trials until late October. This caused some frustration with Rob Munier, the Falmouth representative on the advisory board. 

“In June it was July, and July it was July, and August it was going to be August, and now it’s September, and it’s going to be October for sea trials,” said Mr. Munier. 

Despite the setbacks and ballooning costs, Nat Lowell, the Nantucket member, felt it would be worth the wait. 

“[There were] all these odd stumbling blocks that have slowed things down in various ways, but the final product I think is going to be so good that we’re going to kind of forget all that,” he said.