Steamship Authority: M/V Gay Head back in service in time for its peak season

After five days of being out of service due to a crack in the hull, the M/V Gay Head, one of the Steamship Authority’s “workhorse vessels” which carries mostly freight, was put back in service Aug. 4.

Notably, all routes have been back to normal since last week, a crucial factor during the busy summer, Authority spokesman Sean Driscoll said.  “This time of year, any disruption is a big disruption, because of the volume of traffic,” he said.

While the M/V Gay Head was out of service, the M/V Santaky took over many of its usual routes.

Although a boat out of service is never easy, using the M/V Santaky minimized the disruption. Most of the Authority’s trips were unaffected by the loss of the M/V Gay Head, especially because the M/V Gay Head carries mostly freight, not passengers, Driscoll said.

The M/V Gay Head had a 4-inch crack in the hull of the vessel’s aft that was discovered after a small amount of water in the steering gear void was found. It was dry docked and repaired at Thames Shipyard in New London, Connecticut.

A section of the vessel’s steel hull was removed and renewed as part of the repair.

The state Legislature created the Steamship Authority in 1960. Its purpose is to provide for “adequate transportation of persons and necessaries of life for the Islands of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard.”

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The Authority now operates a boat line between the ports of Woods Hole in Falmouth, and Hyannis, to the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. It employs about 750 workers during the peak season and generates annual revenue of about $100 million, according to the Authority website.

A report by Marine Safety Consultants Inc., which was presented by the Authority General Manager Robert Davis at an April 19 meeting, found that the M/V Gay Head was functionally obsolete due to age. Some of the M/V Gay Head’s steel was compromised due to corrosion.

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Authority officials said the M/V Gay Head, as well as the M/V Santaky and the M/V Katama, will approach the end of their usefulness within the next five years.

Despite the April report, Driscoll is confident the boat is completely safe. The end of useful life expectancy is a term that doesn’t have any relation to the actual safety of a boat.

Rigorous safety analyses are conducted on all Steamship Authority vessels daily.

“These boats would not be sailing if they were not safe,” he said.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Steamship Authority freight vessel back in service