Two major pieces of the long-awaited Tampa Bay Ferry service have now, very literally, been secured. Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) announced that it had completed the purchase of the two vessels that will service St. Pete and Tampa as part of the upcoming year-round ferry service crossing the waters of Tampa Bay.
Following extensive inspections and sea tests, Bay Breeze and Clipper have been selected as the new ships for the service, which will be operated by Hubbard’s Marina. The Bay Breeze is a 97-foot, 250-passenger catamaran, while the 103-foot Clipper carries around 150 passengers.
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Once launched, the new service has promised lower fares than the previous Cross-Bay Ferry, as well as daily transport and more frequent service thanks to the two-vessel approach. If you’ve taken the ferry across the Seven Seas Lagoon at Disney World and see its sister pass by halfway across the lake, you know the experience.
While this is a huge step forward, there is still a long way to go. Again, we mean that literally. Now that they’ve been purchased, the two Pacific Northwest-based ships will have to be loaded onto even larger ships to be transported to Florida, via the Panama Canal. After arriving in a Fort Lauderdale shipyard, they will go through refurbishment, painting, and other upgrades before sailing under their own power to Tampa Bay.
The dock by the Tampa Convention Center will continue as the Tampa home for the ferry service, while officials are still finalizing where the St. Pete dock will be located. No launch date has yet been decided, with officials waiting to assess the boats upon their arrival in Florida.
A $4.8 million federal grant funded the “purchase and shipping of the vessels, the nationwide vessel search, mechanical inspections and sea trials, and the refurbishment needed to prepare the boats for passenger service.” Once operational, PSTA and Hubbard’s Marina will jointly oversee operations.
“This milestone reflects the Board’s commitment to expanding transportation choices throughout Tampa Bay,” said Tom Reid, Vice-Chairperson of the PSTA Board of Directors and Vice Mayor of South Pasadena. “By investing in a permanent, two-vessel fleet, we’re building a more reliable service that will better connect our communities for years to come. It’s rewarding to see this project moving from concept to reality.”
