Purinton News

Washington Island Ferry Line (WIFL) has been the essential link between the residents, business and visitors of Washington Island and Wisconsin's Door Peninsula for more than eight decades.Picturesque and peaceful Door County isn't named for some intrepid settlers named Door. The name has a more ominous meaning. It's derived from the treacherous passage between the peninsula and Washington Island that mariners called Porte des Mortes, or Death's Door.A unique combination of environmental…

This year, despite innumerable challenges and setbacks, a great number of new U.S.-flagged vessels made their way into service. In addition to Maid of the Mist's new electric tour boats James V. Glynn and Nikola Tesla featured Wednesday, the newbuilds highlighted below are some of the most noteworthy to come out of U.S. shipyards in 2020.DredgerU.S. dredging contractors have been adding tonnage in a big way. This Spring, Callan Marine added a significant piece to the U.S. fleet with its new Jones Act cutterhead suction dredge (CSD) General MacArthur.

Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding has delivered a new, year-round passenger/vehicle ferry, Madonna, for service to the Washington Island community across the Death’s Door Passage between the Bay of Green Bay and Lake Michigan.At 124 feet in length, 40 feet in beam and 9 feet in draft, and with capacity for up to 28 vehicles and 150 passengers, the newbuild is the largest vessel in the Washington Island Ferry Fleet, allowing crews to operate a spacious second ferry with year-round capabilities.The Madonna joins four additional vessels in the Washington Island Fleet, the Arni J.

Washington Island Ferry Line signed an agreement with Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding of Sturgeon Bay to construct the Madonna, a year-round boat transporting passengers and vehicles across Death’s Door Passage, the waters between the island and Northport Pier — the tip of the Door peninsula.The new ferry will be named Madonna, measuring 124 feet in length with a 40-foot beam and 10-foot, 8-inch draft. It will have capacity for as many as 28 vehicles and 150 passengers.The new ferry will be the largest in the ferry line fleet. It is scheduled for delivery in late May 2020.“We are pleased to build what is our third ferry for Washington Island…

The Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment (MSD) Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin and the Washington Island Ferry Line (WIFL) located in Washington Island, Wisconsin teamed up to create a Small Passenger Vessel (SPV) industry training program for Coast Guard Marine Inspectors. Early this summer WIFL’s President, Mr. Dick Purinton, and Lieutenant Jerry Butwid of MSD Sturgeon Bay, met to create the training program to provide marine inspectors with a better understanding of the industry they regulate.

Members of the Passenger Vessel Association (PVA) have elected Richard “Dick” Purinton as 2001 president. Also elected were Fredrick “Fred” Hall as vice president and Gary Frommelt as secretary-treasurer. Prior to becoming president, Purinton served as PVA vice president and secretary-treasurer. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin School of Journalism. After serving in the U.S. Navy, he became president of the Great Lakes Ferry Boat Association. He has been with Washington Island Ferry Line since 1979, the year it joined PVA. Hall was vice president and general manager of Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Company, which operates three, automobile and passenger ferry across the Long Island Sound to Bridgeport, Conn.

Gary Frommelt, Hornblower Marine Services, Elizabeth, Ind., was elected 2003 PVA President on February 18 during the PVA Annual Convention at MariTrends 2003 held in Long Beach, CA. Other officers elected were PVA Vice President, David B. Clark, Golden Gate Ferry , Larkspur, CA, and PVA Secretary-Treasurer, Cornel Martin, Delta Queen Steamboat Company, New Orleans, LA. Frommelt serves as project manager for Hornblower Marine Services as director of marine operations for Caesars Indiana-home to the largest riverboat casino in the world. Frommelt was most recently PVA Vice President, has served on the PVA Board of Directors since 1996, and has been a long-term member of the Safety Committee.

For many years the fortunes of the Great Lakes-based shipbuilders and naval architects was based solidly on the building level of the owners who were also based on the 94,000 sq. mi. of water that makes up the five Great Lakes. That is no longer as true a statement as it once was. While there are many projects in this area designed and build by Great Lakes firms for owners in the area, an impressive number of significant commercial market projects as varied as Staten Island, New York ferries and Gulf of Mexico crew/supply boats were designed and or built on the Great Lakes. The Kennedy Class of double ended auto/passenger ferries is one of the most recognizable images of New York City. Every weeknight millions of people see one during the opening of the David Letterman Show.