Vessels

The M/V Eagle

The original M/V Eagle was a steam driven side-wheeler and one of the first ferries to carry freight and passengers to and from the Islands. The vessel that bears that illustrious name today has served as the Hyannis - Nantucket route “workhorse” since 1987.

Its bulbous bow, small sponsons, and bustle aft, enable the M/V Eagle to provide a comfortable ride in the Nantucket Sound. You can relax in the on-board snack bar featuring beer, wine, and mixed drinks, as well as a variety of hot and cold menu items. You can also enjoy free Wi-Fi access and flat-panel LCD TVs.

The M/V Eagle is equipped with elevators that transport passengers between the vehicle deck and all passenger decks including the snack bar area. Access to the elevator is by the transfer bridge that is used to load vehicles onto the ferry. The on-board restrooms are also fully accessible.

Fast Facts About The M/V Eagle

• Carries up to 768 persons (including passengers and crew)
• Accommodates up to 52 vehicles
• Designed by Boston naval architect, John Gilbert
• Built by McDermott Shipyard in Louisiana

The M/V Gay Head

The M/V Gay Head, named after brightly colored clay cliffs located on northwest Martha’s Vineyard, is a sister vessel to the M/V Katama. She was added to the Steamship Authority’s fleet in 1989, a year after the M/V Katama arrived.

The M/V Gay Head performs the same freight vessel service as her sister, serving the Hyannis – Nantucket route most of the year. In the late 1990s, she also received a fifty-foot midsection upgrade, as well as a new engine upgrade.

The M/V Gay Head is not accessible for passengers with disabilities who require assistance, as you must climb a set of stairs to reach the interior passenger compartment. Free Wi-Fi access is available on this vessel, as are vending machines that offer beverages only.

Fast Facts About The M/V Gay Head

• Carries up to 147 persons (including passengers and crew)
• Accommodates up to 39 vehicles
• Designed by Guarino & Cox of New Orleans
• 235’ long with a beam of 40’
• Service speed of 13.5 knots

The M/V Governor

The M/V Governor’s life began in 1954, running from San Diego to Coronado. When a bridge was built spanning her original route, the M/V Governor headed north to serve as one of the Seattle-based Washington State Ferries.

As new vessels arrived, the M/V Governor again became surplus and was sold to the U.S. Coast Guard to serve the New York Harbor Governor’s Island route. With the closing of Governor’s Island, the vessel became surplus for the third time in her career. She subsequently joined the Steamship Authority fleet in 1998 as a back-up vessel for the Vineyard route, retaining the name from her distinguished U.S. Coast Guard service.

Access to this freight vessel is by the transfer bridge that is used to board all passengers and vehicles onto the ferry. The interior passenger compartment that is located on the vehicle deck and the rest rooms are also accessible. Free Wi-Fi access is available on this vessel, as are vending machines that offer beverages only.

Fast Facts About The M/V Governor

• Carries up to 256 persons (including passengers and crew)
• Accommodates up to 42 vehicles
• Double-ended ferry
• 242’ long with a 65’ beam
• Widest vessel in the Steamship Authority’s fleet, with a spacious freight deck
• Recently re-powered with 2 MTU 12 V 4000 engines
• Service speed of 11.5 knots 

The M/V Island Home

The M/V Island Home has served the 7 mile route between Woods Hole and Martha’s Vineyard since March 5, 2007. This state-of-the-art passenger and vehicle ferry can make the crossing in 32 minutes at her top speed of 16 knots. 

The M/V Island Home offers many amenities including a contemporary interior design, ergonomic seats in comfortable arrangements, a quiet area, spacious bathrooms, flat-panel LCD TVs and free Wi-Fi access. Her on-board snack bar features beer, wine and mixed drinks, as well as a variety of hot and cold menu items.

The M/V Island Home is equipped with elevators that transport passengers between the vehicle deck and all passenger decks, including the snack bar area. Access to the elevator is by the transfer bridge that is used to load vehicles onto the ferry. The on-board restrooms are also fully accessible.

Fast Facts About The M/V Island Home

• Carries up to 1,210 persons (including passengers and crew), with inside seating for approximately 625
• Accommodates 60 vehicles with an additional 16 on hydraulic lift decks, for a total capacity of 76
• Freight deck can be configured to hold motor coaches, trucks or semi-trailers
• Double-ended, 255-foot passenger/vehicle ferry
• Designed by the Elliot Bay Group of Seattle, Washington and built by VT Halter Marine Incorporated of Moss Point, Mississippi
• Powered by two EMD Diesel engines delivering a total of 6000 HP

The M/V Iyanough

Ride in style and luxury on board our seasonal high-speed passenger-only vessel, the M/V Iyanough, which serves the 26 mile route between Hyannis and Nantucket with a 1 hour crossing time. The M/V Iyanough was named after the Indian Sachem Chief of the Mattacheese tribe of Cummaquid, MA.

This state-of-the-art vessel also boasts the latest in passenger comfort and amenities, including free Wi-Fi access (standard on all Steamship Authority’s vessels and at all terminals). You’ll also enjoy flat-panel LCD TVs throughout the ship, a snack bar featuring beer, wine and mixed drinks, as well as a variety of hot and cold menu items.

The main passenger deck of the M/V Iyanough is fully accessible, including the rest rooms and snack bar. Access to the M/V Iyanough’s main passenger deck is by the transfer bridge that is used to board all passengers onto the ferry.

Fast Facts About The M/V Iyanough

• Carries up to 400 persons (including passengers and crew)
• Luggage room capacity: 20 to 30 luggage carts and 3 bicycle carts (10 bicycles per cart)
• All-aluminum catamaran
• Constructed in 2006 by Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding of Somerset, MA to a design by Incat-Crowther PTY. Ltd of Sydney, Australia
• 154’ length with a beam of 39.04’
• Powered by 4 MTU 12V 4000 engines delivering a total of 9,400 HP with a service speed of 35 knots
• Launched in 2007

The M/V Katama

The M/V Katama was named after a south coastal beach area on Martha’s Vineyard. She got her start as an offshore supply vessel running to oil rigs and platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

In 1988, the Steamship Authority converted the vessel to ferry service, adding a rounded stern to fit loading ramps and a small passenger area. Ten years later, the M/V Katama received an additional upgrade as a fifty-foot midsection was added along with more powerful EMD engines. Today, she typically serves the Martha’s Vineyard route as a truck and back-up car carrier, transporting the majority of general cargo necessary for the Island’s life and economy.

The M/V Katama is not accessible for passengers with disabilities who require assistance, as you must climb a set of stairs to reach the interior passenger compartment. Free Wi-Fi access is available on this vessel, as are vending machines that offer beverages only.

Fast Facts About the M/V Katama

• Carries up to 150 persons (including passengers and crew)
• Accommodates up to 39 vehicles
• Built in 1981
• 235’ long with a 40’ beam
• Travels at a speed of 13.5 knots      

The M/V Martha’s Vineyard

The Steamship Authority took delivery of the M/V Martha’s Vineyard in 1993 from Atlantic Marine, Jacksonville, Florida. She now serves the 7 mile route between Woods Hole and Martha’s Vineyard, normally traveling at a speed of 12 knots.

The M/V Martha’s Vineyard’s amenities include ADA access, comfortable interior and exterior seating, free Wi-Fi access and flat-panel LCD TVs. The on-board snack bar features beer, wine and mixed drinks, as well as a variety of hot and cold menu items.

The M/V Martha’s Vineyard is equipped with elevators that transport passengers between the vehicle deck and all passenger decks including the snack bar area. Access to the elevator is by the transfer bridge that is used to load vehicles onto the ferry. The on-board restrooms are also fully accessible.

Fast Facts About The M/V Martha's Vineyard

• Carries up to 1,274 persons (including passengers and crew)
• Accommodates up to 54 vehicles
• Classed as a conventional, diesel, twin-screw, passenger/vehicle ferry
• 230’ in length with a 60’ beam
• Powered by twin 3000 HP EMD power plant

The M/V Nantucket

The passenger and vehicle ferry M/V Nantucket arrived in Woods Hole in 1974, just as the Steamship Authority was transitioning from the era of steam to the modern age of diesel power.

Though she underwent an engine change to EMD power in 1988 and her ADA access has been improved, the M/V Nantucket is still essentially the original vessel. Her easy handling characteristics have proved to be the right combination for service to both Islands, which she has served with distinction.

The M/V Nantucket normally serves her namesake Island on the summer schedule and Martha’s Vineyard in winter, when the Steamship Authority’s other vessels are in for repair or annual maintenance. She offers comfortable interior and exterior seating, free Wi-Fi access, flat-panel LCD TVs and an on-board snack bar featuring beer, wine and mixed drinks, as well as a variety of hot and cold menu items.

The M/V Nantucket is equipped with elevators that transport passengers between the vehicle deck and all passenger decks, including the food and beverage service area. Access to the elevator is by the transfer bridge that is used to load vehicles onto the ferry. The on-board restrooms are also fully accessible.

Fast Facts About the M/V Nantucket

• Carries up to 768 persons (including passengers and crew)
• Accommodates up to 50 vehicles
• Designed by Jack Roper
• Built in Jacksonville, Florida
• 230’ length, 60’ beam, 14-knot speed

The M/V Sankaty

Named after the east headland of Nantucket, the M/V Sankaty joined the Steamship Authority’s fleet in 1994. Similar in size and style to the M/V Katama and M/V Gay Head, she was the third former offshore supply vessel to join the Steamship Authority’s current fleet as a freight vessel.

Access to this vessel is by the transfer bridge that is used to board all passengers and vehicles onto the ferry. The interior passenger compartment that is located on the vehicle deck and the rest rooms are also accessible. Free Wi-Fi access is available on this vessel, as are vending machines that offer beverages only.

Fast Facts about The M/V Sankaty

• Carries up to 300 persons (including passengers and crew)
• Accommodates up to 39 vehicles
• Built in 1981 by the Rysco Shipyard
• 235’ long with a beam of 52’

The M/V Woods Hole

The M/V Woods Hole is a single-ended, drive-through vessel with a partially open freight deck at the stern. She is a 235-foot long passenger and vehicle ferry and serves both the Woods Hole to Martha’s Vineyard 45-minute route as well as the Hyannis to Nantucket two hours and fifteen-minute route.

This vessel possesses the latest in passenger comfort and amenities, including Wi-Fi access, and is equipped with state-of-the-art radar, communications and navigation systems, multiple electrical outlets, cushioned chairs, bench seating, tables, a full-service snack bar and restrooms. The vessel also includes an elevator from the freight deck to the passenger deck for those in wheelchairs or who need extra help, two rescue boats, a Marine Evacuation Slide and Liferaft System with 100% persons on board capacity, and emergency equipment exceeding United States Coast Guard requirements. Passenger areas throughout the vessel are adorned with historic prints and panels provided by the Woods Hole Historical Museum.

Fast Facts About The M/V Woods Hole

• Designed by the Elliott Bay Design Group of Seattle, Washington
• Built by Conrad Shipyard, LLC in Morgan City, Louisiana
• Christened May 20, 2016
• Commissioned June 13, 2016
• Type: Passenger/Vehicle Ferry
• Size: Length 235 feet, with a beam of 64 feet
• Carries up to 453 (includes passengers and crew)
• Vehicle Capacity: the freight deck can carry up to 55 standard-size vehicles or 10 freight trucks
• Powered by: MTU 4000 series, Tier 3 diesel engines