The Virgin Islands government expects to pay as much as $2.5 million for new ferries to go into service between Red Hook/Charlotte Amalie and Cruz Bay.
According to the St. John Source, $5.3 million has been set aside by the Department of Public Works to purchase two new water buses. The Federal Highway Administration provided some, if not most, of the funds.
Public Works will invite bidders to submit proposals later this month. Commissioner Darryl Smalls told the Source, "We are looking for vessels that are brand new."
Could this be what one of the new boats will look like? Probably not, since this ship holds as many as 2,000 passengers. But maybe a scaled down version is likely.
While the Commissioner said requests for suppliers will go to national as well as local providers, it's unlikely the new ferries will be built in the territory. One resource for ferry manufacturers, Alibaba.com, shows ferries are manufactured in 20 countries. China has the most builders, 46, followed by Ukraine (23), and the United States (11).
A Cat like this one we have in Michigan serving Mackinaw Island would be cool for STJ:
http://www.arnoldline.com/images/catamaran_closeup.jpg
Residents should be allowed to hand paint them to match some of the Suzukis cruising around St. John.
Toad man,
That’s a nice ride but not nearly big enough for ferry services.
The photo of the boat in the story would be a big improvement over what they have now.
Cheers!
With funds coming from the federal highway admin. i hope that the specifications for bid require that the ferries are made in the USA.
I wish we could get a state of the art car barge; one where you drive in one end to load and out the other to unload.
Amen, sister! I totally agree! Isn’t that what the stimulus $$ is all about?
That’s really a big amount which was gathered by Department of Public Works and the government has to invest some more amount to have the best ferries to(promy do) the country. I hope that ferries snap show here will get soon.