Page 33: of Marine News Magazine (October 2024)

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Feature

Repair & Conversion aced with an aging ? eet, the Woods Hole, Mar- Authority (CCRTA) yielding $28.1 million in additional tha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authori- federal funding becoming available to the Authority.

ty has turned to converted offshore support vessels “The purchase and conversion of available OSVs is the

F (OSV) to breathe new life into its ferry operations. most ef? cient, rapid and cost-effective path to upgrade our

The operator announced its purchase of the OSVs HOS ? eet and best serve the vehicle and freight transport needs

Shooting Star and HOS Lode Star from Hornbeck Off- of island residents and visitors,” Steamship Authority gen- shore Services in 2022, to replace its open-deck freight ves- eral manager Robert B. Davis said in a statement back in sels Gay Head and Katama, and several months later, the 2022. “The similar design of the vessels also promotes operator exercised an option to acquire a third OSV, HOS economies of scale through interchangability of vessels for

North Star, to replace its vessel Sankaty. service needs, inventory of spare parts and crew training.”

A study commissioned by the Steamship Authority iden- The Steamship Authority is already familiar with the ti? ed the existing freight vessels as having an expected useful OSV conversion model. Gay Head, Katama and Sankaty, life of less than ? ve years, while the newly purchased OSVs like the three sister vessels that are being converted to re- have an estimated remaining useful life of at least 25 years. place them, came to the U.S. Northeast following previous

Initial cost estimates for the acquisition, conversion and lives as OSVs supporting the offshore oil and gas industry re-activation of the ? rst two OSVs is approximately $30 in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

million, the Steamship Authority said when it announced The ? rst two of the current conversions are nearing the the deal. The third OSV purchase was made possible ? nish line at Alabama Shipyard and will soon be delivered through an agreement with the Cape Cod Regional Transit to their new owner under the names Aquinnah and Mono- www.marinelink.com MN 33|