Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc. (ESG) announced the completion of the third and final Ollis Class Staten Island Ferry for the City of New York Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) Staten Island Ferry Division. Yesterday, the Dorothy Day, Hull 221, departed ESG’s Port St. Joe Shipyard passenger ready with the U.S. Coast Guard Certificate of Inspection and the ABS Class Certificates in hand.

“It has been an honor for our company to build the three Ollis Class Staten Island Ferries for the citizens of New York City marking a bold new chapter in the Staten Island Ferry’s 200-year-old legacy of public transportation,” said Joey D’Isernia, President of Eastern Shipbuilding Group. “These cutting-edge ferries are now the premier vessels of the world’s busiest passenger-only ferry system that has reliably served the people of New York, New Jersey, and the millions of tourists New York City  welcomes each year. With the delivery of the Ollis Class, ESG is proud to continue this time-honored tradition for decades to come.”

Dann Ocean Towing’s Sarah Dann is towing the ferry from Eastern’s shipyard in Port St. Joe, FL to New York City, NY. The trip will take approximately 14 days. Upon arrival in New York, the ferry will be staged at Caddell Dry Dock for cleaning and another round of trials and training. It is scheduled to begin transporting passengers later this year.

“Since entering service, the first two Ollis Class ferries built by Eastern Shipbuilding Group have operated flawlessly with zero unplanned operational downtime. This is a testament to the quality and craftsmanship built into each vessel by our employees,” continued D’Isernia.

The new Staten Island Ollis Class Ferries series are named after fallen soldier of the US Army 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, ‘Climb to Glory’, Army Staff Sgt. Michael H. Ollis. Ollis, a Staten Island native, was killed shielding fellow soldiers from a suicide bomber in Afghanistan on August 28, 2013, while serving during Operation Enduring Freedom. Hull 219, the first of the series, is named in his honor. Last year, the SSG MICHAEL H. OLLIS won the internationally recognized Workboat Magazine’s Boat of the Year award.

The DOROTHY DAY is named for the renowned activist and journalist who lived and worked on Staten Island. Dorothy Day co-founded the Catholic Worker Movement, which included offering food and shelter to those in need on the Lower East Side during the Great Depression and created the Catholic Worker newspaper. Dorothy Day’s legacy has advanced through the Roman Catholic Church’s canonization process. The Vatican accepted her name in 2000 from John Cardinal O’Connor as a preliminary step for consideration, and a Dorothy Day Guild was formed in 2004. The Church has bestowed Dorothy Day with the “Servant of God” title, with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops formally endorsing her candidacy for sainthood in 2012.

ESG is providing regulatory and detailed production engineering, vessel construction, and delivery of the three new Staten Island Ollis Class Ferries. The ferries have been constructed in ESG’s Allanton yard. ESG’s newest facility in Port St. Joe, Florida performed the outfitting, testing, and trials tasks. The vessels have been a local attraction and significant source of economic development in the Gulf Region.

The new ferries are larger, reflect modern technology, and will operate more safely in extreme weather conditions. They feature popular design elements of past Staten Island Ferries and new customer-service amenities such as more comfortable seating and phone-charging outlets and an oval upper-deck promenade that will for the first time serve as an outdoor “walking track” for ferry riders.  They have the latest in marine technology for energy efficiency and environmental friendliness. There are design features on the vessels that are part of the emergency response plan with the city. Lessons from 9/11 were built into this fleet and they can be connected to the New York fire vessels, also built by Eastern Shipbuilding Group, to support evacuations and rescue.

The three Ollis Class double ended 4,500 passenger ferries, are from a design provided by Elliott Bay Design Group, with each ferry featuring four ABS Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) L12ME23B @ 750 rpm EPA Tier 4 marine propulsion engines with two engines powering one ABS Reintjes DUP 3000 P combining gear and one ABS 36 RV6 ECS/285-2 Voith Schneider Propeller at each end of the vessel. Power generation is provided by three ABS, EPA Tier 3 marine continuous duty diesel generator sets, Caterpillar C18 driving 480 V, 60 Hz, 3-phase generators rated at 425 kW at 0.8 P.F. @ 1800 rpm.

ESG Hull #/Names:

H219 – SSG MICHAEL H. OLLIS

H220 – SANDY GROUND

H221 – DOROTHY DAY

Length Overall 320′-0″

Length on Design Load Waterline 308′-3 1/2″

Beam, Molded 70′-0″

Beam over Guards 70′-3″

Depth at Main Deck at Side 21′-6”

Design Draft 13’-0”

Installed Horsepower 9,980 HP

Fuel Oil Capacity (95%, approximate) 30,000 gal

Minimum Seating Capacity 2,551

Maximum Passenger Capacity 4,500

Crew 16

Regulatory ABS A1, Ferry Service, River Service, AMS Notation. USCG Subchapter H Passenger Vessel