Shepler’s New Ferry Takes Shape
Sparks are flying on the bulkhead and engine room of the $3.8 million, 85-foot Miss Margy, the newest addition to the Shepler’s Mackinac Island Ferry fleet, at Moran Iron Works.
Bill Shepler, CEO of Shepler’s, and Tom Moran, CEO and founder of Moran Iron Works, announced the project last month, when pre-production work started.
The all-aluminum ferry – named after Shepler’s mother – is scheduled to carry its first passengers in July 2015. It will include an air-conditioned cabin, as well as a ventilation system to remove interior condensation from windows, improving the view for passengers during inclement weather.
Construction will require some 8,700 man hours on the shop floor over the next four months, employing a crew of 13. In May the ferry will be transported on a trailer to Moran’s Port Calcite Collaborative, the deep-water port in nearby Rogers City. It will then launch and be transported to Shepler’s facility in Mackinaw City, where it will be painted and seating installed.
Moran has done ship repair and modification work, but this is its first ferry construction project.
The 281-passenger ferry, Shepler’s largest, will have a top speed of about 40 mph. Shepler’s currently has a fleet of five passenger ferries and one cargo vessel.