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Greenwich says ferry fleet needs major steel work, may delay engine repowers; new vessel estimated at $5 million
Summary
Officials told the budget committee Coast Guard inspections revealed steel and plating work on aging ferries that must precede engine repowers; staff said a new 149‑passenger ferry would cost roughly $5 million and carry fewer passengers than existing boats.
Town staff told the committee that inspections during planned shipyard maintenance uncovered unexpected steel and structural defects on the town’s ferry boats, prompting a shift in capital priorities this fiscal year from engine repowering to hull and plating repairs.
Dan Carlson, assistant director, said a 2019 ferry study recommended repowering some vessels but that the shipyard’s hull inspections revealed plating and structural needs that must be addressed before the Coast Guard will certify repowered engines. “We shifted from the repowering the boat … to doing some steel work in order to get it back in cycle to do the engine replacement,” Carlson said.
Leano and Carlson described how, once engines are removed, additional steel repairs often surface and drive up the total cost of a refit. They told the committee that during a recent shipyard visit inspectors identified plating and deck‑structure repairs that could amount to several hundred thousand dollars before any repowering could occur.
On replacement vessels: staff said a newly built ferry that would carry about 149 passengers would cost roughly $5 million in the current market but would likely have less capacity than the town’s existing vessels (which together carry more than 200). “A new ferry boat in this climate … would probably be $5 million,” a staffer said, noting trade‑offs in passenger capacity and cost.
Ridership and preservation: the department reviewed participation trends and said island visits have fluctuated over the last 10–15 years because of changes to non‑resident access following past litigation, sales and pass policies, and operational outages when boats are in the shipyard. Staff described outreach efforts — including drone video and special events like sunset cruises — intended to stabilize or boost ridership.
Beach pass digital rollout: on a separate but related item, Carlson said the department has been exploring a phone‑based OnePass. He warned the committee that the current vendor’s platform lacks a secure dynamic token, making image screenshots of digital passes hard to prevent; that security limitation has delayed implementation while the vendor explores possible solutions.
Next steps: staff requested capital appropriations to address immediate structural repairs and warned that major engine repowers or a new boat purchase would represent multi‑hundred‑thousand to multi‑million dollar commitments that the committee should plan for in future capital cycles.
