Plan Asks Full New Bedford Ferry Ties;

By JULIA WELLS

Gazette Senior Writer

Adding a new kink to the tangled business affairs of the Steamship Authority, a private freight hauler submitted a license request this week to run year-round ferry service between New Bedford and the two Islands.

"We are confident that we can operate these routes successfully at no cost to the Steamship Authority," wrote Craig Johnson, who is the director of operations for Seabulk International Inc., formerly known as Hvide Marine Inc.

For the Vineyard it means expanded ferry service using high speed travel from the port of New Bedford and no new double-ended ferry to replace the beloved Islander.

For Nantucket it means replacing three familiar old ferries with one new multi-purpose high-speed ferry whose design has never before been tested in this country.

Amid a long list of caveats about assumptions and the need for more data, Steamship Authority treasurer Wayne Lamson told the boat line board of go

A pair of hefty private property sales in Edgartown boosted revenues at the Martha's Vineyard Land Bank to a new record this week.

Vineyard Addresses Task Force

By JULIA WELLS

The governor's ferry task force had a three-and-a-half hour lesson in local politics, economics, transit systems, self-governance and the cost of butter last night when some 300 Vineyard residents turned out for the final public hearing of the now-celebrated fact-finding committee.

"Most of our year-round constituents are middle-class working families, and the Steamship Authority is their lifeline to the mainland," declared West Tisbury selectman Cynthia Mitchell.

Acting on a joint request from attorneys for the Martha's Vineyard Commission and the Down Island Golf Club, a superior court judge sent the golf club plan back to the commission this week for fresh review.

"This matter is remanded to the Martha's Vineyard Commission for further proceedings, including a public hearing to consider plaintiff's amended application," declared the Hon. Richard C. Connan, an associate justice of the superior court who sits in Barnstable.