“No significant damage” in Maine State Ferry grounding
Written by Nick Blenkey
Maine State Ferry Service posted this picture of ferry's propeller following grounding
The Maine State Ferry Service (MSFS) says that an initial inspection showed that the hull of its ferry Captain Richard G. Spear was not significantly damaged during an August 16 grounding incident.
The ferry operates between Rockport and Vinalhaven, Maine, and was pulling away from Vinalhaven shortly after 10:30 a.m. when it hit a ledge. There were 65 passengers and five crew members aboard at the time of the grounding. No one was injured. The vessel returned to Vinalhaven to unload passengers and was then taken to a private marina in Rockland, where it was inspected.
On August 17, the ferry service said that, though the ferry’s hull was not significantly damaged “the starboard rudder is bent, and the port rudder is missing. This missing rudder may be retrievable by divers given the location of the grounding. Both propellers are damaged.”
“The Maine State Ferry Service (MSFS) does not have an estimated cost of repair or timeline for the Spear to return to service.” the ferry service said in a Facebook post. “The Spear was already scheduled to be taken out of service next week for a routine U.S. Coast Guard inspection. It will remain at the Rockland Marine Corporation shipyard for repairs.”
The ferries Captain E. Frank Thompson and Captain Charles Philbrook will operate scheduled ferry runs between Rockland and Vinalhaven until the Spear can return to service.
As is standard with any grounding incident, the U.S. Coast Guard is investigating. The MSFS is cooperating with the investigation.
The Captain Richard G. Spear was launched by its builder, Washburn & Doughty Associates Inc., at its East Boothbay, Maine, shipyard in April 2021 and entered service on the Rockland-Vinalhaven route in August of that year.
