On Friday, Eastern Shipbuilding Group Inc. launched the ferry Dorothy Day at the shipyard's Allanton facility in Panama City, Fla. The Dorothy Day is the third of three new 4,500-passenger Ollis-class ferries for the city of New York's Staten Island Ferry.
The three new Ollis-class 320’x70’x21’6” double-ended ferries are from a design by Elliot Bay Design Group, Seattle. Each ferry features four Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) 12-710 EPA Tier 4 marine propulsion engines, with two engines powering one Reintjes DUP 3000 P combining gear, and one 36 RV6 ECS/285-2 Voith Schneider propeller at each end of the vessel. Total installed horsepower is 9,980. Geislinger torsional couplings are installed on the EMD flywheels and provide torsional damping and driveline misalignment from the resiliently mounted EMD engines.
Ship’s service power is provided by three EPA Tier 3 marine continuous duty diesel generator sets, Caterpillar C18 driving 480-V, 60 Hz, 3-phase generators rated at 425 kW. The approximate fuel oil capacity is 30,000 gals.
Eastern secured the $257 million contract to build the three ferries through a competitive bidding process in 2017. There was no increase in price following the hurricane damage, according to a New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) spokesperson.
The first ferry, the Michael H. Ollis, was launched in 2019. The second, the Sandy Ground, was launched in 2020.
The new Staten Island Ollis-class ferries series are named after Army Staff Sgt. Michael H. Ollis, a Staten Island native killed in Afghanistan in 2013 while serving during Operation Enduring Freedom.
