NEW ORLEANS — The "closed" sign at the ferry landing in Algiers Point has become a sign of the times for the beleaguered ferry system spanning the east and west banks of the Mississippi in New Orleans.
In recent weeks, the aging and unreliable boats have been out of service more often than in service. While passengers are left to take a 30-minute bus ride over the Crescent City Connection bridge, two new ferries sit at the dock just down river.
The $10 million boats arrived in the Crescent City last July. They have yet to take their first riders across the Mississippi.
"I think the expectation at this point is really, really low," Algiers Point Association VP Skip Gallagher said. "That, if we even see them, it will be a considerable time now. We will not see them in the near future."
Gas leaks, broken hatches and no fenders
The Regional Transit Authority asked Port Engineer Chris Blasko from Washington State Ferries to take a look at the boats. He did so in August.
"We came down and spent about a day and a half, kind of wandering the vessels, both RTA 1 and RTA 2," Blasko said.
Blasko listed his concerns and observations. The list included broken hatches and hinges, gas leaking from sewer tanks and life-saving equipment that may need to be modified. Blasko also said some safety signage was missing or needed to be replaced.
"Everything that I noted was fixable," Blasko said. "They looked like very well built little boats."
But, Blasko admits one item on his list was pretty significant. He noted the boats were built without fenders needed to protect the hulls on the catamaran-style vessels.
"[Fenders] allow the vessel to come up alongside the pier, and if a piece of wood is sticking out or a bolt or nail, it won't cut through the aluminum hull," Blasko said.
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Blasko added, "Part of the issue was there was no project oversight with this. One of our recommendations to RTA was to have a project manager in place for project oversight on large scale projects."
After a year of failed inspections and other issues, it's unclear when, or if, the new ferries will finally get the OK to carry passengers.
The RTA declined WWL-TV's request for an interview. CEO Alex Wiggins had this to say after the boats failed to obtain a Coast Guard Certificate of Inspection in late July.
"What we learned during the inspection was that there was some equipment that wasn't in the right place," Wiggins said. "That wasn't presented to the Coast Guard in the fashion that it should be and that is inexcusable."
New plans, same questions
There are some new developments on the horizon for the ferry program.
The RTA is trying to identify a new private operator to run the ferry boats. It is also looking for an engineering firm to act as a project manager to help ensure the new boats get Coast Guard certification.
The RTA recently created a new executive position to exclusively manage the ferry program, including preventative maintenance.
The transportation authority would not reveal when the ferries will be ready for the next Coast Guard inspection. In the meantime, riders and folks on Algiers Point just want the ferries to be more reliable.
"I've been involved with the ferries for a couple of decades now and I care and I want them to work," Gallagher said.
This week, there did not appear to be any work being done on the boats.
Metal Shark
Metal Shark, the Franklin, Louisiana-based company that built the new ferries released a long statement Tuesday, in which spokesman Josh Stickles said in part, "Following the ferries' arrival in New Orleans, the RTA - not the (U.S. Coast Guard) - requested that Metal Shark make changes to these already-certified and accepted vessels. Metal Shark accommodated these requests."
According to the company, "Metal Shark's contractual obligations have been fulfilled."
See Metal Sharks’ extended statement below:
Metal Shark was proud to build these modern, high-speed, low wake, aluminum catamaran passenger vessels for the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA). As a local Louisiana company we have been eager to see New Orleans join other high-profile and successful Metal Shark passenger vessel operators in New York City and Washington DC.
Metal Shark is one of America’s largest and most respected builders of aluminum passenger vessels, with over twenty in-service 150-passenger and 350-passenger catamaran ferries delivered from our Franklin, LA shipyard since 2017. Currently we produce a new passenger vessel at the rate of around one per month. On a routine and ongoing basis Metal Shark passenger vessels are completed, delivered, and put into service without incident, so it has been frustrating to see these brand new ferries sitting idle for over a year now in New Orleans.
It has been incorrectly reported in the local New Orleans press that the boats themselves are the reason for the delay. This is false. USCG Sector New Orleans commander Captain Kristi Latrell, Officer-in-Charge of Marine Inspection, has gone on record to confirm that RTA operator proficiency, not vessel issues, is the cause for delay.
Captain Luttrell has stated on record, “Until the (New Orleans RTA) crews can prove to us that they can respond to any incident on the river in regard to abandoning ship and safely removing people from the water, that’s what’s really holding them up.” Captain Luttrell has explained that the crews were unable to prove that they could safely carry passengers, and said that the boats themselves are “state of the art.”
RTA is making many changes, ranging from new executive management to ousting Transdev, the company that handled RTA’s outsourced ferry operations. It was Transdev, after all, whose crews were unable to successfully complete their Coast Guard safety drills. Metal Shark is confident that in the hands of proficient operators there would have been no issue demonstrating safe and competent crew performance to the Coast Guard and getting these vessels into service; something we hope will happen quickly with a new operator in charge.
To recap the facts: Both vessels were designed and built to USCG Subchapter T standards, they were constructed in accordance with modern shipyard practices, and any USCG-suggested changes were completed during the normal production cycle without causing delay. Upon completion, both RTA1 and RTA2 received their temporary USCG Certificates of Inspection (COIs) by USCG Morgan City. Both vessels were accepted by the RTA and transported to New Orleans, at which point passing their safety drills and obtaining their new-to-zone COI to get the ferries into service became the sole responsibility of the RTA.
Following the ferries’ arrival in New Orleans, the RTA - not the USCG - requested that Metal Shark make changes to these already-certified and accepted vessels. Metal Shark accommodated these requests, and both vessels then again passed inspection by an independent marine surveyor jointly retained by RTA and Metal Shark.
Metal Shark’s contractual obligations have been fulfilled. It is my understanding that RTA has now produced yet another list of requests, some of which are warranty items and others which are non-contractual items they now want added to the boats. However, to reiterate, the Coast Guard has stated that lack of operator proficiency has delayed issuance of the new-to-zone COIs. This new list was not generated by the Coast Guard, nor is it pertinent to the USCG inspections. When it comes to passing their safety drills and obtaining their COIs, the ball is solely in RTA’s court.