Steamship Authority Prepares to Bring New Ferry to Martha’s Vineyard

The Steamship Authority is bringing its newest ferry, the M/V Aquinnah, to Martha's Vineyard on Friday, May 16, to take part in a public commissioning ceremony for the vessel at the Oak Bluffs terminal.

The ceremony begins at 9:30 a.m. An open house at the terminal will follow the ceremony. Members of the public are then invited to take self-guided tours of the ferry from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., per an announcement from the Steamship Authority's communications director Sean Driscoll, which was shared with the Vineyard Gazette.

The M/V Aquinnah will leave the Oak Bluffs terminal for Woods Hole, where it will reopen to the public for self-guided tours from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. It will then head to the Steamship Authority's maintenance center in Fairhaven.

According to the Vineyard Gazette, the M/V Aquinnah was initially designed as a service vessel to support the offshore gas and oil industry. It is one of three identical vessels that the Steamship Authority purchased because of the ability to convert them to freight ferries that can also transport passengers. 

The conversion work required cutting out the midsection from each vessel and replacing it with a shorter section to fulfill U.S. Coast Guard regulations for freight ferries that transport 50 or more passengers. This work was performed at the Alabama Shipyard. 

According to a press release from the ferry line, the Aquinnah can carry approximately 50 automobiles per trip and has an interior passenger area that can accommodate about 80 passengers. The vessel has two Caterpillar engines each rated at 2,000 horsepower, two controllable pitch propellers, and three 950 horsepower thrusters to “allow for greater maneuverability,” according to an MV Times report.