Bristol Harbor Group Inc. (BHGI) has been awarded a contract by Sayville Ferry Service, Sayville, N.Y., to  design a 400-passenger aluminum monohull high speed ferry. The ferry, which will provide service from Sayville across the Great South bay to Fire Island, N.Y., will also haul cargo.

The new design will be based on an existing parent vessel and will comply with Subchapter K regulations. The project includes both preliminary and detail design packages for all aspects of naval architecture and marine engineering. There is particular emphasis on modernization of the propulsion plant, improvements for passenger embarkation/debarkation and cargo handling, hydrodynamic enhancements, and vibration reduction. No additional information and specifications are available at this time.

BHGI is a full-service naval architecture, marine engineering and consulting firm located in Bristol, R.I.

Ken Hocke has been the senior editor of WorkBoat since 1999. He was the associate editor of WorkBoat from 1997 to 1999. Prior to that, he was the editor of the Daily Shipping Guide, a transportation daily in New Orleans. He has written for other publications including The Times-Picayune. He graduated from Louisiana State University with an arts and sciences degree, with a concentration in English, in 1978.