operator profile


Jersey City


New York City


Long Island


Fire Island


Fire Island is situated off the coast of Long Island, New York


Island operator manages highly seasonal traffic


Fire Island Ferries carries 80 per cent of its 1 million annual passengers in just two months, which means it runs very different services in summer and winter


U


S ferry company, Fire Island Ferries, services a barrier beach which is just a quarter of a mile wide but 32 miles long. Based at the


western end of Fire Island in New York State, the operator gears up for an influx of day trippers and holiday-home residents every summer. The island has just 300 permanent residents, which means traffic drops dramatically when the school holiday period is over in September. “We affectionately call the day after the Labor Day bank holiday, ‘Tumbleweed Tuesday’,” said Fire Island Ferries’ president, Tim Mooney. “Because everywhere is completely empty and it is amazing how abrupt it is.” Fire Island Ferries transports around 800,000 of its almost 1 million annual ridership in July and


30 I Passenger Ship Technology I Spring 2012


August, the equivalent of 8,000 to 10,000 a day. This falls to around 100 to 150 people a day in the winter, and most of those are contractors for construction works taking place in the off-season. In summer, routes operate directly to Bay


Shore on Long Island from most of the eight towns the company serves. It has terminals at the towns of Kismet, Saltaire, Fair Harbor, Dunewood, Atlantique, Ocean Beach, Seaview and Ocean Bay Park, where it


is headquartered. “During the


shoulder seasons we reduce the number of boats and make multiple stops with the remaining vessels,” said Mr Mooney. Two smaller operators, Sayville Ferries and Watch Hill Ferries, service two towns each, at the middle and eastern end of Fire Island, respectively. Eventually in the winter, Fire Island Ferries’ service is reduced to just one passenger ferry and one freight ferry, departing three times a day, compared to a high of 28 26m-long, 400-passenger vessels running in peak season. “The fleet is built for the summer, so we lay up and winterise a lot of ferries off season,” said Mr Mooney. Laying up involves putting block heaters in some of


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