Hy-Line asks for increase in passenger limits
TRANSPORTATION
BY PETER A. SUTTERS JR. INDEPENDENT WRITER
The only private company to provide ferry service to the island is seeking changes to its licensing agreement with the Steamship Authority.

Citing the rising cost of fuel and stagnation in the number of people coming to Nantucket, Hy-Line Cruises is asking for passenger limits on certain trips to be raised, as well as relief from paying a fee on all passengers it carries after it reaches 250,000 for the year. The Hyannis-based company is also asking permission not to run the Great Point over Daffodil Weekend.

The Nantucket Port Council has voted to recommend that the SSA board of governors accept the schedule change and the increase in the number of passengers, but not the relief from the license fee.

The SSA board of governors meets on March 18 and is scheduled to vote on the matter.

A Massachusetts state law mandates that all private ferry service going to and from Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard be licensed by the Steamship Authority. The law was enacted to ensure the Steamship Authority would always remain in operation so that residents of the islands would not be left without ferry service if a competing company had up-front success at the expense of the SSA, but later failed and left no one running boats between the islands and the mainland.

The current license agreement the Hy-Line has with the Steamship Authority limits to 200 the number of passengers it can carry on eight of the 12 trips it makes daily from Memorial Day through September. On the remaining four trips, the Hy-Line can take 300 passengers. The request from the Hy- Line is for all 12 trips to have 300 passengers.

"I don't think increasing the cap will have a dramatic impact," said Hy-Line vice president of operations Murray Scudder, who said the limit is not reached that often. "We're not turning away large numbers of people," he said, "but every ticket sale helps."

The current agreement with the Hy-Line also calls for a fee to be paid on all passengers carried after the 250,000th passenger of the year. The limit is typically reached in late September or early October and $175,000 to $200,000 is sent to the SSA annually.

The port council felt if the passenger cap were raised, the SSA would lose out on even more revenue.

"We feel they are going to hit the number earlier if the limit is raised," said Nantucket Port Council representative Nat Lowell. "We wanted to take a wait and see approach. Run an analysis on the numbers and see where it takes us. Don't get me wrong, we need the Hy-Line and I think we have been working with them every year to make improvements, but let's just see where this goes first."

Lowell noted the current licensing agreement expires at the end of the year and the license fee can be negotiated when the renewal process begins.

Scudder did not see raising the limit having a dramatic impact on when the limit would be reached. "I think a couple of bad weather days in the summer would have a much greater impact," he said.

SSA general manager Wayne Lamson is seeking input from the public on the matter and will take comments until this Friday. Comments can be mailed to the Steamship Authority, P.O. Box 284, Foot of Railroad Ave., Woods Hole, Mass. 02543 or by email

at wlamson@steamshipauthority.com. I