Two Steamship Authority freight boats were taken out of service Saturday, leading to a reshuffling of boats and crews through Sunday. Both the Katama and the Sankaty had problems, but the Sankaty was back in service by Monday.
Two Steamship Authority freight boats were taken out of service Saturday, leading to a reshuffling of boats and crews through Sunday.
The first to be sidelined was the M/V Katama, where a deck hatch failed shortly after noon Saturday, SSA spokesman Sean Driscoll said Monday.
The vessel was at the Oak Bluffs terminal when the hatch failed, Mr. Driscoll told the Gazette. The noon boat from Woods Hole to Oak Bluffs, M/V Nantucket, idled off the terminal for several minutes before diverting to Vineyard Haven.
Taken to the boat line’s maintenance facility in Fairhaven for repair, the Katama was replaced on the schedule by the M/V Sankaty, which was on standby status at Fairhaven, Mr. Driscoll said.
Then the Sankaty lost power to one of its two main generators Saturday night, leading the crew to switch to the second, functioning generator to bring the freight ferry to Woods Hole, where it was taken out of service, Mr. Driscoll said.
But there was no room at the terminal for other SSA ferries to dock until the crew of the M/V Governor, which had ended its daily runs, returned to Woods Hole to put their boat back in service, making room for the last returning ferries from Vineyard Haven, he said.
“We only had one slip in Woods Hole available, so that would throw off the whole works,” Mr. Driscoll said.
To complete their scheduled runs, the vessels ran late into Saturday night, followed by cancellations of their first Sunday trips so crews could receive their mandatory rest hours, as required by U.S. Coast Guard regulations.
The ferry Island Home also had to skip its first scheduled trip to the Island Sunday morning, because it had to berth overnight in Vineyard Haven. Customers for the canceled trips were carried aboard other vessels, Mr. Driscoll said.
The Sankaty was cleared for operation by the U.S. Coast Guard around 5 p.m. Sunday after repairs by SSA maintenance workers, he said.
There was no word Monday morning on when Katama would be fit for service.
“We were focused on getting the Sankaty up because . . . it was parked in a slip that we couldn’t use,” Mr. Driscoll said.
Comments
SSA employees and customers
Jason Oak BluffsSSA employees and customers deserve better, qualified leadership. Not bean counters.
thats why i bought an
here we go again edgthats why i bought an airplane
the 'lifeline' needs a lifeboat
We ran into a person
Frank Brunelle Vineyard HavenWe ran into a person attempting to go off island. He showed up for his reservation at 7:30 AM and were sent over to Oak Bluffs and around 3:30 P.M returned from Oak Buffs after trying unsuccessfully catch a ferry along with a group of vehicles where they were instructed to return to Vineyard Haven to make another attempt. The toll it takes on travelers is pretty scary. Adding more slips, a larger ticket office and so on is just going to make it more complicated.
Why take the Governor out of
Gabrielle West TisburyWhy take the Governor out of service, seems to be most reliable...best $1 SSA ever spent.
I just wonder who's brilliant
Chris Mara EdgartownI just wonder who's brilliant idea it was to stop running the luggage cart? For the saved space of a large SUV all the people, elderly and very young, had to carry all their luggage. How disrupting was that for passengers loading and unloading on the boat?
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