M/V Barnstable To Join Steamship Authority Fleet Following Board Vote

FALMOUTH ( January 25, 2023) – The third offshore supply vessel (OSV) joining the Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority’s fleet will be named the M/V Barnstable following a unanimous vote by the Authority Board on Wednesday morning at its monthly meeting, held at the Authority’s Administrative Office in Falmouth.

The Steamship Authority announced the purchase of the third OSV from Hornbeck Offshore Services of Covington, Louisiana, in November 2022. The M/V Barnstable (formerly named the M/V HOS North Star) will join the M/V Aquinnah and M/V Monomoy – all three of which are sister ships – in replacing the open-deck freight vessels M/V Gay Head, M/V Katama, and M/V Sankaty.

The M/V Barnstable purchase was made possible through an agreement with the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority (CCRTA) yielding $28.1 million in additional federal funding becoming available to the Authority.

In 2022, the Authority held a naming contest to solicit public input on its vessel names. More than 8,000 entries were received, totaling more than 9,000 names in the contest, which ended September 5, 2022. A winner of a $250 SSA gift card will be randomly selected from those who submitted the winning name to the contest. That winner will also be invited to help welcome the M/V Barnstable when it joins the Steamship Authority’s service.

Since 1960, the Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority has served as the transportation lifeline to the islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard year round. The Steamship Authority is the largest ferry service to the islands and offers the most frequent daily departures for passengers, automobiles, groups and trucks. In 2022, more than 2.9 million passengers and more than 695,000 vehicles of all sizes were transported to and from the islands. Our U.S. Coast Guard-certified crews are committed to the highest level of safety at sea while our vessels offer comfort and convenience with spacious seating, free Wi-Fi and TV on board.

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