Horizon and Metal Shark Win More Ferry Orders
Horizon Shipbuilding of Bayou La Batre, Alabama announced Tuesday that it has won a contract for an additional five ferries for Hornblower's NYC Citywide ferry system.
Two of the new orders will be delivered within 2017 and the final three are scheduled for delivery next yera. The award brings Horizon's total number of Citywide ferry orders to 13, and it fulfills Hornblower's fleet size requirement of 19 vessels.
Horizon's first delivery to Hornblower is scheduled for this spring. "We are very pleased that Hornblower selected Horizon to continue the assembly line our team has been able to put into operation,” said Travis R. Short, President of Horizon Shipbuilding. “I am thankful that Hornblower has once again placed its trust in us.”
When fully operational, New York’s Citywide system will run six routes: Manhattan to North Brooklyn, South Brooklyn, Astoria (in two ways), the Rockaways and Soundview. In the future, the service could expand to include routes to Coney Island and Staten Island. The ferries will shave significant time off of commutes for far-flung neighborhoods, and the fare is equal to the cost of a subway ride.
Metal Shark wins additional ferry orders
The other six vessels for the Citywide fleet are being built by Metal Shark of Jeanerette, Louisiana. While Metal Shark and Horizon are competitors, they have worked closely with each other to ensure that the entire fleet is as consistent and uniform as possible.
Like Horizon, Metal Shark recently won additional contracts for passenger ferries: a series of four 88-foot catamarans for the Potomac Riverboat Company and a series of two 105-foot catamarans for the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority.
The vessels for Potomac Riverboat will operate within the DC Metro Region, between Alexandria, National Harbor, Georgetown and DC's The Wharf. The catamarans for New Orleans will replace two aging ferries, and will cross the Mississippi between Algiers Point and Canal Street and Lower Algiers and Chalmette.