b'MEMBER NEWSFire Island Ferries Construction Contractis Awarded to Metal Shark B oat builder Metal Shark has been award-ed a contract to build a new vehicle ferry for Fire Island Ferries. Both companies are PVA members. Construction of the new Fire Island Maid re-cently commenced at Metal Sharks Bayou La Batre, Ala. shipyard. Designed by PVA member Elliott Bay Design Group, the 70 x 23 vessel features a steel hull and aluminum superstruc-ture. With its hydraulically operated bow ramp and reinforced decks designed to support fully loaded concrete trucks and general cargo, the new ferry will provide transport between Bay Shore, N.Y. and various ports along the Great South Bay of Fire Island.Vessel construction and outfitting will occur in our assembly building, under cover, serviced by overhead cranes, and not exposed to the el-ements. We look forward to working with Fire Island Ferries on a successful build, providing a vessel that will serve their needs for years to come, said Doug Barrow, vice president of Metal Shark Alabama.The new ferry will be powered by twin Cum-minsQSL9Tier3marineengineswithZF Marine CruiseCommand control system and transmissions. Electrical power shall be provid-ed by a Cummins Onan MDK generator.This is the second vehicle ferry built by Metal Shark for the communities of Fire Island, fol-lowing the 70 vessel built at our Franklin, La. shipyard in 2018, said Carl Wegener, Metal Sharks vice president of commercial sales. We are pleased that Northeast operators and Pas-senger Vessel Association members continue ILLUSTRATION COURTESY OF ELLIOTT BAY DESIGN GROUPto see the value and quality that a Metal Shark-built vessel brings to their business models.John Waterhouse, Elliott Bay Design Group PEprincipal in charge, added, Elliott Bay Design Group is pleased to have been selected for the design of this workboat. The folks at Fire Island have been terrific to work with and we look forward to seeing Metal Shark make the magic happen.33 MARCH 2022'