The newly-completed ferry M/V Aquinnah officially joined the Steamship Authority fleet Friday, in a commissioning ceremony that drew about 150 people to the ferry terminal in Oak Bluffs.
“Set the watch and bring the vessel to life,” said general manager Robert Davis, his command relayed by radio from a speaker’s tent adjacent to the slip.
In the wheelhouse high above the freighter’s deck, captain Norman DeBarros raised the American flag and sounded the Aquinnah’s whistle to signal that the new ferry was ready for duty, as applause broke out on the waterfront below.
A former service vessel for the oil and gas industry, the Aquinnah is one of three identical models purchased by the Steamship Authority over the past three years for conversion to freight ferries.
Wider, taller and longer than the older generation of Steamship Authority freighters, the converted boats can carry more vehicles and load them more easily.
The new ferries also can accommodate more passengers, with enclosed seating for 80 people.
The crew accommodations are better as well, and the vessels themselves are more maneuverable, Capt. DeBarros told the Gazette.
“This is more modernized [and] more comfortable for everybody,” he said.
The first of the new freighters to be converted, M/V Barnstable, went into service on the Nantucket route in March and switched to the Vineyard route earlier this month, so crews could train for the Aquinnah’s arrival this week.
These two ships were purchased in part with federal funding obtained in collaboration with the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority, Mr. Davis said.
The third new vessel, M/V Monomoy, is still undergoing conversion work at Alabama Shipyard in Mobile, Ala., which has become a second home for some Steamship Authority officers.
Justin Bond, the Aquinnah’s chief engineer, spent the past year based in Mobile, while Capt. DeBarros was there for eight months before returning to his family in Falmouth.
On Friday, Steamship Authority chief operating officer Mark Amundsen recognized the two officers in a naval custom that dates back to the days of wooden ships: the plank owner’s award.
Plank owners are the first crew members aboard a newly-commissioned ship, who traditionally were presented with a piece of wood from the deck.
In this case, Mr. Amundsen had preserved two pieces of steel from the Aquinnah’s original midsection, which was replaced with a more buoyant midsection as part of the conversion work.
Polished and engraved with their names, the steel plaques now anchor Capt. DeBarros and Mr. Bond to the Aquinnah’s history as her first Steamship Authority officers.
Friday’s commissioning ceremony drew on deeper roots as well, with an invocation by Chief F. Ryan Malonson of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) and remarks by the tribe’s chairwoman Cheryl Andrews-Maltais and tribal historian Bettina Washington.
“For over 13,000 years, our way of transportation from the mainland to here was always in what we call mishoons [dugout canoes], and these have become our new mishoons to get us back and forth,” Ms. Andrews-Maltais said.
Ms. Washington, an Island native who currently lives on the mainland, also compared the Steamship vessels to mishoons.
“The times may move forward, the technologies may change, but we are still traveling on these waters. And we have tribal members … who have worked and work on these boats, from captains to the guys who help me not run into the side of the boat,” she said.
Other speakers at Friday’s ceremony included U.S. Rep. William Keating, who appeared on video; state Rep. Thomas Moakley and Oak Bluffs select board chair Dion Alley, who recalled his days growing up near the terminal.
“I remember when I’d be a kid in the water asking you to throw a coin,” Mr. Alley said.
Like most of the other speakers, he made sure to acknowledge the Steamship Authority staff in his remarks.
“We thank you for the work you’ve done tirelessly to bring this project to fruition. Your hard work and collaboration have made this day possible, and we are deeply grateful for your efforts,” Mr. Alley said.
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