Interview: Alison Nolan, GM, Boston Harbor Cruises
Alison Nolan is General Manager and a fourth-generation owner of Boston Harbor Cruises (BHC), a company that moves more than 2.5 million passengers annually on its fleet of 60 vessels with more than 600 daily departures seven ports and more than 30 facilities. But the story of BHC and Alison Nolan transcends raw numbers; as the company and passenger vessel industry are in her DNA, more of a lifestyle than a career. She spoke with Maritime Reporter & Engineering News recently to address the rewards and challenges inherent in her position.
BHC Fast Ferry Returns After Engine Refit
Boston Harbor Cruises’ (BHC) Provincetown fast ferry, Salacia, has returned to service following an almost $3 million engine refit which saw the vessel in dry dock from January through May 2015. BHC commissioned the installation of four MTU 12V4000M64 engines from Stewart & Stevenson Power Products, LLC. The engines were manufactured by Rolls Royce Power Systems subsidiary MTU, and assembled in Friedrichshafen, Germany. The MTU engines will reduce Salacia’s diesel emissions while increasing efficiency and reliability.
Boston Harbor Cruises Ferry to Undergo $2.6m Engine Refit
Boston Harbor Cruises’ Provincetown Ferry, the Salacia will be drydocked from January thru March 2015 to undergo a $2.6 million dollar engine refit. Boston Harbor Cruises (BHC) has purchased four MTU 12V4000M64 engines from Stewart & Stevenson. The engines, manufactured by Rolls Royce Power Systems subsidiary MTU, and assembled in Friedrichshafen, Germany, have been completed and successfully tested and are currently on a container ship headed for Boston. According to BHC, the Salacia will be the first EPA Tier III Certified Emissions Level vessel operating in Boston Harbor.
Salacia Returns to Boston
Boston Harbor Cruises recently completed the first successful ferry service between St. Thomas and St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Salacia, the largest of the company’s high-speed catamarans, built by Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, returned to Boston, having carried from 200 to 700 passengers daily between the islands from November til early May. Until now, islanders normally traveled between the islands by plane. While not the first vessel to attempt this run, Salacia is the first to succeed. “This is probably the most difficult ferry route in the country,” explained Chris Nolan, Boston Harbor Cruises’ managing partner. “The easterly winds blow 15 to 20 knots. The seas were three to five feet eighty percent of the time and would frequently increase to six to eight [feet].
