The first of 19 Incat Crowther-designed 86’x29’ aluminum catamarans for New York’s Citywide Ferry by Hornblower completed its 1,700 mile passage along the Gulf of Mexico and up the East Coast April 2.
The 149-passenger ferry, dubbed Hull 200, departed with a transit crew from Horizon Shipbuilding, Bayou La Batre, Ala., and attempted a passage on Florida inland waterways before encountering shoal conditions. After returning to a coastwise route, the boat arrived April 2 in New York Harbor.
Ferry operator HNY Ferry Fleet LLC, the Hornblower subsidiary that is running the system for the city, plans to bring up a flotilla of three more vessels next, according to Cameron Clark, a Hornblower senior vice president and the project manager.
There will be more spring transits from Horizon and Metal Shark in Franklin, La., with 19 boats to be in service for the first six routes starting in June.
Meanwhile, work progressed on new floating ferry landings in the city’s boroughs, and at Hornblower’s operating base in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Hull 200 is tied up across the harbor at Jersey City while that work gets done.
