Fire Island Ferries, Bay Shore, N.Y., has taken delivery of a new 85'x20' ferry, Isle of Fire, that will service the company’s Great South Bay route. The boat was built at Warren, R.I.-based Blount Boats Inc. and carries a total of 400 passengers, with seating for 383 of them.
Main propulsion comes from three John Deere 6135SFM keel-cooled diesel engines, producing 650 hp each, connected to ZF 34"x31" propellers through ZF 550 transmissions with 2:1 reduction ratios. The propulsion package gives the new ferry a cruising speed of 20 knots.
With a 4' draft, Isle of Fire will also feature a fuel capacity of 1,130 gals., Duramax keel coolers, Garmin GPS chart plotter, Furuno radar, Standard Horizon VHF radios, and ComNav AIS.
The Isle of Fire is sister ship to the Fire Islander built in 2013 by Blount. It's the 10th vessel built for Fire Island Ferries by Blount. The ferry operator now has 25 vessels in its fleet plus one barge.
