Third of Steamship Authority's fleet approaching the end of their lifespan
WOODS HOLE — M/V Gay Head, the M/V Katama, and the M/V Sankaty, three of the Steamship Authority’s 10 vessels, will approach the end of their useful life within the next five years, according to a report by Marine Safety Consultants Inc.
These are “workhorse vessels,” Authority Communications Director Sean Driscoll said about the three vessels built in the early 1980s. The ferries mainly transport freight, not passengers. They can also carry hazardous loads, if necessary.
Authority General Manager Robert Davis presented the report about the aging ferries at the authority's regularly scheduled meeting on April 19.
The Gay Head and Katama can each carry 140 passengers and the freight equivalent of 39 cars, while the Sankaty carries 290 passengers and the freight equivalent of 37 cars.
Although Driscoll said it's too early for a hard estimate, it would cost about $45 million to build a vessel similar to the M/V Woods Hole, the newest vessel in the fleet.
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The years take a toll
The Authority will decide over the next one to three years what to do about replacing the three vessels. It may decide to get larger vessels and reassess the roles for each of the vessels. However, they will serve the purpose of freight transport.
Each vessel is around 40 years old. According to the presentation, the Gay Head is functionally obsolete due to age. Some of the vessel's steel is compromised because of corrosion. Additionally, freight-carrying trucks must back onto the vessels rather than drive forward.
The Katama’s machinery is near the end of its useful life and has issues with cement ballast and void maintenance (cement ballast is used as a weight to help stabilize the vessel when unloading cargo, the void is an area of the interior hull). The Sankaty has similar problems.
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Despite the aging vessels, operations have not been affected, Driscoll said.
What's next for the aging ships?
The useful life and obsolescence surveys are used more as guidelines, but that doesn’t mean a ship will immediately cease to be useful just because it’s passed the age at which guidelines state it should stop being used.
For example, the M/V Governor, the Authority’s oldest vessel, was built in 1954 and is still being used, despite a 2012 survey that found it would last only another five to seven years.
The guidelines show the Authority which vessels need to take priority for replacement, and the fact that the Gay Head, Katama, and Sankaty were listed is not surprising, said Driscoll. This is for several reasons, including the vessels’ age, unsupported machinery (some equipment is no longer manufactured), and the type of work that these vessels accomplish.
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The Authority also needs to decide whether it makes more sense to continue maintenance on an old vessel or purchase a new vessel. They also must figure out whether they want to buy a used vessel or get a new one built.
As far as how it would be paid for, it would be through either ticket sales, or bonding, said Driscoll.
“You can't just go down to the dealership and buy a freight boat,” said Driscoll.
Contact Asad Jung at ajung@capecodonline.com. Follow him on Twitter at: @asadjungcct.
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Steamship Authority: Three vessels may become obsolete
