(PANAMA CITY, Fla.) – Eastern Shipbuilding Group hosted the keel authentication ceremony Thursday for a new 302-foot auto and passenger ferry (Hull 228) for the Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Co.
Steel cutting for Hull 228 commenced in January and delivery is scheduled for March 2024. The ferry will operate on Long Island Sound between Bridgeport, Conn., and Port Jefferson, N.Y.
The ferry is based on the P.T. Barnum and Grand Republic auto and passenger ferries that Eastern previously constructed for McAllister Towing and Transportation Co., owner of the Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Co. Eastern has constructed more than a dozen vessels for longtime customer McAllister.
“We have been doing business with McAllister for more than 30 years. We are very proud that we have earned their trust with a gold standard that repeat customers like Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Co. and McAllister expect from a shipyard,” said Eastern CEO and Chairman Joey D’Isernia.
“(We are) pleased to renew our longstanding relationship with Eastern Shipbuilding Group in building a new state-of-the-art vehicle and passenger ferry for service across Long Island Sound,” said Fred Hall, vice president and general manager of Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Co.
– Eastern Shipbuilding Group
