Page 33: of Marine News Magazine (February 2023)

32 34

new vessels will use battery-powered electric thrusters. The batteries will be charged by diesel generators on board

Eastern Shipbuilding Group has cut ? rst steel for a new auto and passenger ferry but can be upgraded to fully electric for the Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Company.

Eastern Shipbuilding Group in the future.

Looking ahead at other vessels cur- rently under construction, Maine

State Ferries has a 104-foot passenger/ vehicle ferry that will serve a route between Rockland and Matinicus

Island., designed by Gilbert Associ- ates, under construction at the Stein- er Shipyard in Alabama. The same route will also be served by a larger passenger/vehicle boat to be built at

Senesco, which will include hybrid electric power with kit from BAE Sys- tems (to supplement propulsion with

Caterpillar diesel engines). A sister (250 passengers and 23 motor ve-

North Carolina DOT hicles, without the hybrid capability)

Capt. Richard G. Spear, was delivered from the Maine-shipyard Washburn & Doughty in early 2022. It serves a route between Rockland and another island, Vinalhaven.

Beyond ferries and similar craft, the overnight sector, with river and coastal cruise vessels, has bene? ted greatly as travelers are stay on North American shores. American Cruise Lines con- tinues to expand; its latest newbuild

American Symphony began Mississip- pi River excursions in late 2022. A sis- ter vessel (American Serenade, which will be the ? fth in a series of 175 pas- senger ships built at Chesapeake Ship- building, in Maryland) is set to begin cruises on the Lower Mississippi in

Spring, 2023. In late 2022, the com- pany began construction on Ameri- can Liberty, the third new Coastal

Cat in the company’s “Project Blue” series, at the same yard. With delivery www.marinelink.com MN 33|