Not one taker stepped forward Wednesday to put in a bid on the
Steamship Authority's high-speed ferry, the Flying Cloud.

The lack of interest in the vessel, for which the boat line hoped to
obtain at least $5 million, is the latest chapter in the Flying
Cloud's mostly troubled six-year history at the boat line. The SSA
paid $8 million for the ferry in 2000.

Fewer passengers rode the Steamship Authority ferries last year, continuing a trend under way since the turn of the millennium.

The boat line, which provides the only year-round passenger and vehicle service to the Islands, carried 2,609,835 passengers last year, off 63,324 or 2.4 per cent from 2004.

Passenger traffic on the Vineyard route fell 3.1 percent.

"This is the third year we've been down three per cent," Vineyard SSA governor Marc Hanover said yesterday. "There are more people living here, fewer people visiting."

The Steamship Authority continued to make money last year, though not as much as boat line managers anticipated.

Unaudited numbers show that the SSA, beset by rising fuel costs and falling passenger traffic, brought in $1,491,957 in operating income in 2005 - a decrease of about $1.3 million from the prior year, and about $2.6 million below budget projections.

MOSS POINT, MISS. - Marking history for the Steamship Authority and its fleet of ferries that ply the routes between the Cape and Islands, the Island Home - a 255-foot, double-ended ferry that will replace the venerable MV Islander - was launched Friday morning at the Gulf Coast shipyard where she was built.

More than 300 onlookers cheered and applauded, with air horns wailing, as the still unfinished vessel - freshly painted black and white - slid sideways on five greased tracks and landed in the calm Escatawpa River with a giant splash.

Time has finally run out for the Nobska, the last coastal steamer in
America and the car and passenger vessel that served the Vineyard
between 1925 and 1973. Preliminary work to dismantle the historic vessel
began in the Charlestown Navy Yard early this week, and on Wednesday the
wrecking ball came down on her upper deck.

Rising world oil prices have blown a million dollar hole in the budget of the Steamship Authority and forced the boat line to refigure its budget for a second time.

However, governors balked at management’s advice that they should immediately consider fare increases to cover the extra projected cost, opting instead to put off any revenue decisions until January.

If the price of oil remains high, governors will consider measures that include a fuel surcharge.

Among the many speeches given at the commissioning of the new ferry Island Home last Saturday, Boyd (Butch) King's was both the briefest and most touching.

Trying to get people\'s thoughts on the new Island Home ferry
during its maiden voyage Monday afternoon was kind of like asking a
child what they thought of their new stepmom or stepdad the same day
their parents got divorced.

Someone referred to her as the Islander on steroids. Others called her the cruise ship. One Steamship Authority worker, gazing up at the huge bulk of the ferry Island Home tied up at Woods Hole, simply called her a monster.

Whatever the metaphor, you get the picture. This is a big boat.

The ferry Island Home is set to make the long trip home.

Steamship Authority general manager Wayne Lamson said this week that the double-ended, $32 million car and passenger ferry is due to leave the VT Halter shipyard at Moss Point, Miss., this weekend to make the 2,000-mile trip to the Steamship Authority maintenance facility in Fairhaven.

The Island Home was originally due for delivery in June of 2006, but construction was set back some seven months by Hurricane Katrina, which hit the Gulf Coast in August 2005, just after work had begun on the ferry.