Governors Island News

Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG) Designs New York’s First Hybrid-Electric FerryWatch the full interview with David Turner, Projects Manager, Elliott Bay Design Group, on the technical highlights of the HARBOR CHARGER on Maritime Reporter TV:On August 12, 2025, The Trust for Governors Island unveiled the HARBOR CHARGER, New York State’s first hybrid-electric passenger vehicle ferry. Designed by Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG) and constructed at Conrad Shipyard, the vessel represents a defining moment in New York’s maritime history.

The Trust for Governors Island unveiled its new hybrid-electric ferry, the Harbor Charger, the first of its kind in New York State and aa addition to the Trust’s existing ferry fleet. The arrival of the new boat coincides with the 20-year anniversary of Governors Island opening to the public, as well as major recent progress in its development as a leading destination for climate research and education—marking a significant milestone in its transformation. The Harbor Charger was…

Jim Towers is Principal in Charge as well as a Senior Naval Architect and Marine Engineer at Elliott Bay Design Group. He has 45 years of marine experience in vessel design and construction with a specific emphasis on structure. A recognized industry expert in vessel design and a part of numerous vessel construction and refurbishment projects, Jim has worked for the Pacific Northwest's top shipyards, where he developed his engineering talent and was involved in the construction of many high-speed aluminum vessels.

Patrick Murphy has been President of Blue & Gold Fleet, L.P., the San Francisco Bay Area’s largest and premier provider of Bay Cruises and ferry service, since 2016. Murphy grew up in the Maritime business. His father, Roger Murphy, founded Blue & Gold Fleet in 1979. Patrick Murphy began his career in 1982, working part-time in the Box Office and as a Deckhand before receiving his United States Coast Guard’s license in 1995 and was promoted to Captain in 1996. In 2005, Murphy advanced to Blue & Gold Fleet Operations Manager, and then to Director of Operations in 2009.

The domestic passenger vessel answers the call for cleaner and more efficient platforms. It is truly an electric time to be a part of this niche industry.In the shadow of a rapidly changing political landscape, the domestic passenger ferry sector is nevertheless seeing an increasing number of newbuild vessel orders. Older fleet vessels, some approaching financial and operational obsolescence – also environmentally undesirable on a waterfront that more than ever demands cleaner carbon signatures – are going the way of the dinosaur.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) on Thursday announced grants totaling $220.2 million from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to modernize the nation’s ferry systems. The program focuses in part on expanding ferry service in rural communities, helping communities acquire modern ferry boats (including electric boats that reduce carbon pollution), and upgrading shore infrastructure to support high-quality, low-emission ferry service.“For many communities around the U.S.…

New York City is set to receive its first public hybrid-electric ferry, Mayor Eric Adams announced on Wednesday.The first-of-its-kind vessel—currently under construction at Conrad Shipyard’s facility in Morgan City, La.— will begin transporting passengers to Governors Island in summer of 2024. It will replace the diesel-powered Lt. Samuel S. Coursen, the Trust for Governors Island’s current vehicle and passenger ferry, which was commissioned by the U.S. Army in 1956 and has been…

It’s a common story in the U.S. shipbuilding industry today. A piece of equipment that used to be available for delivery on short notice—maybe in one or two weeks—now must be ordered months or more in advance, and it costs double. Add to this rising steel prices and the labor issues that have pervaded nearly all industrial sectors since the early days of the pandemic, and it’s clear that business is far from usual for American shipyards.Bollinger Shipyards president and CEO, Ben Bordelon…

The year just ended, 2021, might be described as being about “trying to get back to normal”, across the entire transportation spectrum, two years into the pandemic. During this time, the decarbonization and electrification waves have swept across maritime passenger transport. The passenger side of the business is dependent on multiple funding sources; increasingly, this money will be driven by environmental and social considerations.The long-awaited funding of “infrastructure”-related projects…

Freehill Hogan & Mahar LLP Partner Daniel Fitzgerald retired from the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve in a ceremony at U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington D.C., this summer.Rear Admiral Melissa Bert presided over the ceremony, which was attended by family, friends and Coast Guard colleagues who worked with Fitzgerald over the past 28 years. Fitzgerald retired from his last duty assignment in Washington D.C. where he served as the Senior Reserve Judge Advocate (RJAG) for the entire Coast Guard Reserve.

John Waterhouse is a ubiquitous character in the U.S. maritime industry, a deep-thinker, a signature bow tie and more than three decades of naval architecture and marine engineering experience and success as co-owner of the Seattle-based Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG).While growing up, John Waterhouse spent some time in Vancouver, BC, Canada, and it was as a young boy standing on the shores of English Bay, watching ships come in from around the world to load and unload their cargos, when he realized that a maritime career could be his future.

Admiral James Steele Gracey, USCG (retired), 17th Commandant of the Coast Guard, passed away on Sunday, April 5, 2020, in Falls Church, Va., at the age of 92.Born in Newton, Mass. in 1927, Adm. Gracey graduated from the United States Coast Guard Academy in 1949. Adm. Gracey was a 1956 graduate of the Harvard Graduate School where he earned a Masters Degree in Business Administration.His career included diverse tours both ashore and afloat, including Commanding Officer, LORAN Station Ocean Cape…

Governors 1, a 400-passenger ferry built by Blount Boats delivered in 2019, provides service between Lower Manhattan and Governors Island, a park-like respite .5 nm away from the bustle of New York City.The 132' x 40' Governors 1 has dual 800 hp engines, so maintaining optimal air pressure and temperature is critical for peak performance and efficiency. Adequate airflow is also essential for crew comfort and safety.Specified by naval architecture and marine engineering services firm Glosten…

Marine News recently visited the Blount Boats facility in Warren, Rhode Island. While the year 2019 might be the ‘year of the woman’ in the eyes of the International Maritime Organization, the two women at the head of Blount Boats – Marcia & Julie Blount– have been a driving force in the U.S. boatbuilding market for decades. As Blount’s celebrates its 70th anniversary, read about the storied yard’s promising future.Founded in 1949, Blount Boats is a full-service shipyard with a customer base comprised of a variety of commercial and government entities including the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S.

U.S. shipbuilder Blount Boats together with naval architecture firm Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG) has been awarded the contract to design and construct a new passenger-only ferry for Governors Island, New York by The Trust For Governors Island. The vessel will provide passenger ferry service between Battery Maritime Building in Lower Manhattan and Soissons Landing on Governors Island, New York. “Blount Boats is honored to have been chosen by the Trust to build another iconic vessel for New York Harbor,” said Marcia Blount, President of Blount Boats.

Plans are in motion to procure another newly built ferry for New York City. A city-run organization in charge of running New York’s Governors Island said it is seeking bids for the design and construction of a new passenger-only ferry for its service between the island and Manhattan. Naval architecture and marine engineering firm Glosten, Inc. has provided technical requirements for the design, construction and delivery of the vessel, to be operated by The Trust for Governors Island.

Adm. Robert E. Kramek, former Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, has died October 20, 2016. Kramek served as the Coast Guard's 20th commandant from 1994 through 1998, during which time he significantly expanded the Coast Guard's global reach and influence as commandant, including directing active participation in the combined service/international anti-narcotic smuggling operations Frontier Shield and Gulf Shield, along with other law enforcement operations. He led the Coast…

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the Citywide Ferry Service is on track to launch in 2017, with the selection of Hornblower, Inc. as its operator. The new service, which will include up to 20 boats and connect 21 New York City eighborhoods for the price of a single subway ride ($2.75) is scheduled to be fully operational by 2018, and is estimated to carry 4.6 million trips per year across six routes. “For the price of a single subway ride, tens-of-thousands of New Yorkers are going to have a new public transit option linking them to jobs…

1793-The first Revenue Cutter Service court martial occurred on this date aboard the cutter Massachusetts. The offender, Third Mate Sylvanus Coleman of Nantucket, was summarily dismissed from the service for "speaking disrespectfully of his superior officers in public company. . . .insulting Captain John Foster Williams [the commanding officer] on board, and before company. . . .for keeping bad women on board the cutter in Boston and setting a bad example to the men by ordering them to bring the women on board at night and carrying them ashore in the morning. . . ." and for writing an order in the name of the commanding officer. 1830-President Andrew Jackson announced an ambitious plan to add a large number of lighthouses to the federal system, with a total of 51 more lighthouse keepers.

1863- The cutter Agassiz defended the Union-held Fort Anderson at New Bern, North Carolina, from a Confederate attack. 1902- All but one of the members of the crew of the Monomoy (Massachusetts) Life-Saving Station perished during the attempted rescue of the crew of the wrecked coal barge Wadenaduring a terrible winter gale. The dead included the keeper of the station, Marshall N. Eldridge, and six of his surfmen. Eldridge told his crew before they departed on the rescue that: "We must go, there is a distress flag in the rigging."  The crew of five from the barge also perished. The sole survivor, Seth L. Ellis, was the number one surfman of the Monomoy station. He was awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal as was the man who rescued him, Captain Elmer Mayo of the barge Fitzpatrick.

Metro Cruise Services LLC entered a four-year agreement with the New York City Economic Development Corp. (NYCEDC), where it has been designated as the sole and exclusive operator of the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal (BCT). This will be the first time in Metro’s company history that marine terminal and stevedore operations will be conducted in the Port of New York. Metro’s cruise brand has grown in the Northeast region in recent years, beginning with the providing of stevedore services in the Port of Boston to Crystal, RCI, Celebrity and Carnival cruise lines.

1793-The first Revenue Cutter Service court martial occurred on this date aboard the cutter Massachusetts. The offender, Third Mate Sylvanus Coleman of Nantucket, was summarily dismissed from the service for "speaking disrespectfully of his superior officers in public company. . . .insulting Captain John Foster Williams [the commanding officer] on board, and before company. . . .for keeping bad women on board the cutter in Boston and setting a bad example to the men by ordering them to bring the women on board at night and carrying them ashore in the morning. . . ." and for writing an order in the name of the commanding officer. 1830-President Andrew Jackson announced an ambitious plan to add a large number of lighthouses to the federal system, with a total of 51 more lighthouse keepers.

1863- The cutter Agassiz defended the Union-held Fort Anderson at New Bern, North Carolina, from a Confederate attack. 1902- All but one of the members of the crew of the Monomoy (Massachusetts) Life-Saving Station perished during the attempted rescue of the crew of the wrecked coal barge Wadena during a terrible winter gale. The dead included the keeper of the station, Marshall N. Eldridge, and six of his surfmen. Eldridge told his crew before they departed on the rescue that: "We must go, there is a distress flag in the rigging."  The crew of five from the barge also perished. The sole survivor, Seth L. Ellis, was the number one surfman of the Monomoy station. He was awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal as was the man who rescued him, Captain Elmer Mayo of the barge Fitzpatrick.