The Steamship Authority this week sold off the M/V Gay Head, just days before the M/V Barnstable is set to make its first trip to Nantucket.
The M/V Barnstable, a former oil vessel that has been converted into a freight ferry, left the shipyard in Alabama Thursday for what is expected to be an eight-day voyage to the boat line’s maintenance facility in Fairhaven.
The Steamship Authority has dropped a potential $3.50 to $5 rate increase for excursion fares from the Vineyard and cut a proposed passenger rate hike from $1 to 50 cents, according to a revised draft of the preliminary 2025 operating budget.
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 Steamship Authority’s second largest vehicle ferry will be sidelined until at least Friday due to damage on the vessel's portside propeller blades.
Steamship Authority staff were investigating a coolant issue on the M/V Nantucket, temporarily taking the ferry out of service.