Boat Line Will Purchase Replacement Fast Ferry to Ply Nantucket Route

By James Kinsella
Gazette Senior Writer

NANTUCKET - If at first you don't get it right, spend almost $10 million to do it again. That is the approach taken by the Steamship Authority, whose board of governors yesterday approved spending $9.5 million to buy a high-speed passenger ferry to replace the the problem-plagued Flying Cloud. The vessel is planned for the Hyannis-Nantucket route.

The vote also served as the coda for a Nantucket secession initiative launched two years ago by the late boat line governor Grace Grossman.

Before voting on the $9.5 million proposal, Falmouth governor Robert Marshall asked whether the initiative to split the boat line is still alive.

Nantucket resident Phil Read replied that the committee had disbanded.

The regular monthly meeting was held in the Nantucket high school, and saw light attendance.

Also yesterday boat line governors agreed to move ahead on engineering and design work for the reconstruction of the Oak Bluffs terminal. The project will cost an estimated $10.1 million, and will no longer use the North Bluff for staging cars.

Vineyard governor and board chairman Marc Hanover emphasized the importance of getting the preliminary work done now for the entire project, even if the SSA decides to initially pursue just part of the project.

"We really want this thing done in the box," Mr. Hanover said of the engineering and permit work. "We can always build less; we can't build more."

Mr. Hanover said it is important to ensure the safety of the existing ferry slip and pier, which has been deteriorating.

He also said the boat line needs to ensure the continued seasonal operation of the Oak Bluffs terminal, which he said serves as a relief valve for the heavy passenger and vehicle traffic moving through the year-round terminal at Vineyard Haven.

In a staff summary prepared for yesterday's meeting, boat line general manager Wayne Lamson and director of engineering Carl Walker estimated the cost of replacing the ferry slip, transfer bridge and east end passenger access walkway at $6.26 million. Mr. Hanover said this part of the project must be completed.

The total project also includes two possible additional phases: construction of a new west end passenger walkway, estimated at $1.78 million, and adding vehicle staging lanes over the water to the north of the existing pier, estimated at $2.08 million.

The project no longer includes demolition of the existing terminal office and the use of part of the old town hall across Sea View avenue as a ticket office.

Earlier in the meeting, in a somewhat anticlimactic fashion, the board followed the recommendation from senior staff to buy a 350-passenger high-speed catamaran from the Duclos Corporation, which does business as the Gladding-Hearn Shipyard in Somerset. The ferry will replace the current fast ferry, the Flying Cloud, which carries up to 280 passengers.

The new ferry will be designed to operate at 35 knots while operating on four engines running at 85 per cent, and 32 knots with three engines.

Nantucket governor Flint Ranney made the motion to approve construction of the new ferry "with great elation." Delivery of the vessel is expected between October 2006 and February 2007.

Mr. Lamson said both he and an ad hoc committee of staff members created to review fast ferry proposals unanimously chose Gladding-Hearn.

"The combination of Gladding-Hearn's ‘Highly Advantageous' composite rating for its technical proposal, which was the highest received for any vessel, and its proposed total contract price, which was the lowest proposed for any vessel, made it the clear choice," Mr. Lamson wrote in a staff summary presented to the board before the vote.

At yesterday's meeting, board members asked Peter Duclos, for his assessment of the proposed vessel.

"I think this is going to be a great boat," said Mr. Duclos, president of Duclos Corporation, who attended the meeting. "There are a lot of fundamental and significant differences between this boat and the Flying Cloud," he added.

Mr. Duclos said the new ferry will be larger, more comfortable and contain more redundancies, the better to keep going when one of the systems or engines fails.

In a related move, later in the meeting, the board voted to approve $9.9 million in Steamship Authority bonds to pay for the new vessel. Mr. Lamson said he will seek government grants to help defray the cost. The Flying Cloud cost $8 million in 2000; $2 million was covered through a government grant.

Two designs submitted by the Derecktor Shipyard of Bridgeport, Conn. were rejected.

Yesterday's board decision sets in motion the permanent departure of the Flying Cloud, a star-crossed vessel that entered service in May 2000 and almost immediately ran into problems, including persistent engine breakdowns.

The Flying Cloud's performance began improving last fall, following a boat line decision to run its engines at a lower RPM. But the vessel's frequent service interruptions over the preceding four years had eaten into its ridership, leading the boat line to take the vessel out of service this past winter.

During that period, Hy-Line, a private ferry company based in Hyannis, provided the only fast-ferry service on the route with its high-speed passenger ferry Grey Lady. Mr. Lamson acknowledged last year that Hy-Line had come to dominate the fast-ferry market on the route.

In choosing Gladding-Hearn, the SSA follows in the steps of Hy-Line, which purchased all three of the fast ferries it has used on the route from Gladding-Hearn.

The boat line will now try to go toe-to-toe with Hy-Line on the high-speed ferry route and compete to take back its share of the market.

The SSA issued a request for proposals in May for a high-speed passenger-only vessel to replace the Flying Cloud.

In other business yesterday, the board went on record as opposing a state Senate bill that would expand the boat line board and eliminate control of the SSA by the two Islands. The board approved a letter of opposition that will be sent to the co-chairmen of the Joint Committee on Transportation.

Also, a board subcommittee gave high marks to Mr. Lamson for his job performance from last August through June 3, and recommended that he be paid a higher salary.