March 28, 2024
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Federal funding fails for ferry New boat nixed for Vinalhaven

ROCKLAND – The Maine State Ferry Service missed the boat in 2002 for federal funding for a new passenger vessel intended to provide service to Vinalhaven.

“Our application was turned down,” Leroy Sawtelle, manager of the Maine State Ferry Service terminal in Rockland, said Friday.

The design for a 150-foot-long ferry that would carry up to 250 passengers and 20 cars or pickup trucks was completed earlier this year by Kvaerner Masa Marine of Annapolis, Md., at a cost of approximately $400,000, David Nelson, an engineer in the Maine Department of Transportation’s passenger transportation office, said Friday. The design costs were paid for with a previously approved bond.

The state had hoped to secure $4.5 million in funding from the 2002 federal ferryboat discretionary fund program to build the $5.5 million vessel. DOT officials have indicated that the new boat would be used for transporting passengers and vehicles to and from Vinalhaven.

Now the state must either wait for the next fiscal year to apply for the same type of funding or seek alternative means of financing the project.

The ferry advisory board will meet at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at the Rockland ferry terminal to decide funding options and a time frame for securing the money.

One route to consider would be federal highway funds, because, Sawtelle said, “this is a highway.”

“That’s stretching it a little,” he said, “[but] we did for the Margaret Chase Smith.”

The Margaret Chase Smith ferry, built in 1987, is 166 feet long and carries up to 226 passengers and 30 vehicles, providing service between the island of Islesboro and Lincolnville. That ship cost $3.1 million to build, and the state did obtain some highway funds because the route to Islesboro was considered a secondary highway, Sawtelle explained.

“Those highway funds are in great demand,” Nelson said, pointing out that there are many other needs in the state.

Even the ferryboat discretionary funds are hard to come by, Nelson said. Each year, the bulk of those funds already is earmarked for Alaska and Washington, he said, because those states have larger ferry services.

Once Alaska and Washington are taken care of, about $20 million is left in the ferryboat program to spread among all the other states that have ferry needs, Nelson said. If a project costs more than $2 million, funding probably will not occur unless a state’s congressional delegation can get the money earmarked for that state, he said.

“The best you can hope for is 80 percent funding for a project,” Nelson added.

Another funding alternative would be to secure federal loans or for the state to float bonds, which requires legislative approval, he said. Even with federal assistance, the state would have to come up with the remaining 20 percent.

The purpose of a new ferry is to provide a smoother-riding, more passenger-friendly ferry, while adding a modern vessel to the state’s partially aging fleet, officials have said.

Two of Maine’s seven ferries are considered “spare” boats.

One spare is the North Haven, built in 1959, and the other is the Everett Libby, built a year later. The 90-foot-long North Haven carries up to 125 passengers, seats 26 and holds nine autos compared to the Everett Libby, which is 105 feet long, carries a maximum of 175 passengers, seats 50 and holds 12 cars.

The Governor Curtis, built in 1968, is 130 feet long, carries as many as 250 passengers, seats 62 and accommodates 17 cars. It travels from Rockland to Vinalhaven daily.

The Captain Henry Lee, the Captain Charles Philbrook and the Captain Neal Burgess all are 130 feet in length, handle up to 250 passengers, seat 60 and carry 17 autos. The Lee was built in 1992, while the other two ships were constructed in 1993. These three ships provide daily service. The Lee ferries passengers and cars from Bass Harbor to Swans Island and Frenchboro. The Philbrook goes from Rockland to Vinalhaven, while the Burgess travels between Rockland and North Haven.

Sawtelle pointed out how the cost of construction has increased over the years. The North Haven’s price tag was $163,000. A year later, the Libby cost $188,000 to build.

In 1968, the 130-foot Governor Curtis was built for $450,000 compared to $2.8 million for the Captain Henry Lee, which was built 24 years later. The Margaret Chase Smith is the most expensive Maine ferry, at $3.1 million.


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