Eastern Shipbuilding to Build 300 ft. Ferry

Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Panama City, Fla., has announced the contract signing with the Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Company, a subsidiary of McAllister Towing and Transportation Company, Inc., for the construction of the largest ferry vessel to be built for the East Coast in many years. The Ferry Company's latest ferry, designed by John W. Gilbert Associates, Inc., Boston, will operate between Bridgeport, Conn. and Port Jefferson, N.Y. The vessel will have a car and truck capacity of approximately 100 vehicles, and a passenger capacity of 1,000. The anticipated top speed of the ferry is 20 knots. The vessel will be powered with two EMD 16-645 E7B engines @ 90 rpm coupled to Reintjes gears. At 300 ft. overall length, with a 52 ft. bean and an operating loaded draft of 9.4 ft., the vessel will be certified by the USCG Subchapter H and will be equipped with the latest in safety equipment. The estimated cost of the vessel is $15 million. Construction is well underway, and hull modules are being erected on Eastern's recently added 2,500 ton side launching slipways, which has been added specifically to handle larger vessels.