North Carolina Orders a New Ferry
The North Carolina Department of Transportation Ferry Division has ordered a new river class vehicle ferry to be built at Bollinger Shipyards of Lockport, La. for delivery by March 1, 2019.
Designed by Elliott Bay Design Group, the 183-foot ferry with room for 38 regular-sized vehicles will replace M/V Thomas A. Baum, a 22-year-old Hatteras-class ferry that carries 26 vehicles. The vessel will be the NCDOT Ferry Division’s first new car ferry since the M/V Sea Level christened in 2012 (also designed by Elliott Bay Design Group).
“This is a great first step in phasing out our smaller boats and replacing them with larger ones,” said Ferry Division Director, Harold Thomas. “Eventually it will allow us to increase our capacity with the same number of scheduled trips.”