Steamship Authority's New Freight Boat, MV Barnstable, Makes Maiden Voyage To Nantucket

After plying the waters of the Gulf Coast as an offshore supply vessel for the oil and gas industry, then undergoing a multi-million dollar conversion in the Alabama Shipyard and making the trek north to Massachusetts, the Steamship Authority’s newest vessel was officially commissioned and made its first trip to Nantucket on Monday. 

The M/V Barnstable will serve as a freight boat for the Steamship Authority, hauling passengers, cars, and trucks to the islands. It will operate primarily on the Nantucket route and replaces the M/V Gay Head, which was sold by the Steamship Authority last week.

Steamship Captain Jim Corbett, who has been with the boat line since 1979, was at the helm for the M/V Barnstable’s first trip to Nantucket and also led the crew that took the new vessel from Alabama north to Massachusetts over 14 days earlier this fall.

The M/V Barnstable is one of three sister ships purchased by the Steamship Authority in 2022 from Hornbeck Offshore Services of Covington, Louisiana. The vessel, along with the M/V Aquinnah and M/V Monomoy, was converted for use by the Steamship Authority at the Alabama Shipyard in Mobile, Alabama. The purchase and conversion costs were covered, in part, through an agreement with the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority that yielded $28.1 million in federal funding.

“Not only do these vessels represent the most efficient, cost-effective, and rapid path to upgrade the fleet and meet the vehicle and freight transport needs of the islands, but their similar design was a huge selling point for us,” said Bob Davis, general manager of the Steamship Authority. “The identical design of the vessels provides economies of scale through interchangeability of vessels for service needs, inventory of spare parts, and crew training. In other words – it was a good deal."

On Monday, the M/V Barnstable rounded Brant Point for the first time around 2 p.m. and pulled into the north slip at Steamboat Wharf, where it was opened to the public for self-guided tours. Island truck drivers were among the first to board and inspect the larger deck area, and a number of town officials - including town manager Libby Gibson and Select Board chair Brooke Mohr - also toured the vessel.

During the M/V Barnstable conversion project, the vessel was bisected, and its midbody was removed to reduce its overall length to 245 feet. The vessel is outfitted with two Caterpillar engines, each rated at 2,000 horsepower; two controllable pitch propellers; and three 950 horsepower thrusters to allow for greater maneuverability.

The vessel also has state-of-the-art radar, communications, and navigation systems, two marine evacuation systems and a rescue boat, and an interior passenger area with seating for approximately 80 passengers. The vessel can carry the equivalent of approximately 50 automobiles per trip.

The vessel’s name was chosen as part of a 2022 naming contest that garnered more than 8,000 entries. Nantucket residents Ramona Davis and Rick Wingard were recognized at the ceremony for submitting the M/V Barnstable as a suggestion in the contest and were represented in Hyannis on Monday by Davis' son, Connor Davis, who traveled from Wayland, Mass. for the event.

Monday's celebration and commissioning were supposed to happen in the spring of 2024. However, the completion date of the conversion project for the M/V Barnstable was pushed back several times, and delays in the certifications required for the vessel postponed its delivery to the Steamship Authority by roughly six months.

The cost to acquire the three offshore supply vessels and convert them was also scrutinized over the past two years. Each vessel cost just under $6 million, and despite some deep reservations and criticisms of the Steamship Authority’s management, the boat line’s board of governors voted unanimously in April 2023 to pay $27 million to retrofit two out of the three used vessels purchased to replace its aging freight boats. The low bid from an Alabama shipyard to convert the two former offshore supply vessels at a cost of $13.6 million each was significantly higher than the Steamship’s projection of $9 million per boat. The misfire on the cost estimate prompted consternation by some members of the Steamship’s board of governors, but in the end, all members voted to move forward with the vessel conversions.

Following further training and outfitting, the vessel is expected to be put into service in January 2025.