Harbor Towns suspends passenger service, cites boats' engine woes

Citing ongoing mechanical issues with its two fast-ferry boats, Harbor Towns Inc. suspended its passenger service on Monday.

The regional nonprofit said in a press release that both of its Hysu catamarans — the Penelope and the Moses Grandy — “have been found to be safe, fast and comfortable” since arriving from their manufacturer several months ago. However, the boats “have not met reasonable expectations on reliability,” Harbor Towns said.

“Because of ongoing mechanical issues, we have had to cancel far too many scheduled trips and cruises, often at the last minute,” Harbor Towns said.

While passengers and others have expressed “understanding and patience” about the delays, the boats’ mechanical issues “have not allowed us to consistently serve Albemarle Sound residents and tourists at the high-quality standard we expect to deliver for all our guests,” the release states.

Harbor Towns said it will resume scheduled passenger service “as soon as we are confident that we can provide reliable service.” The release did not say when that might be.

Both the Penelope and Moses Grandy were scheduled to begin passenger runs between six port towns, including Elizabeth City, beginning in May. However, because the Moses Grandy hadn’t received final approval from the U.S. Coast Guard officials in Washington, D.C., only the Penelope was able to make initial runs, a spokesman for Harbor Towns said in June.

While The Penelope had made 15 successful trips since launching in May, more than 200 bookings had to be canceled after the boat encountered “new engine issues,” specifically a crack in its oil pan, Harbor Towns’ Peter Thomson said last month.

“Cummings (the engine manufacturer) told us that in the first 100 hours of a diesel engine’s life, this sort of thing turns up,” he said.

Harbor Towns’ plan from the start was to use one ferry and have the second on standby in case problems arose, Thomson said. But because the Moses Grandy was still awaiting final approval from the Coast Guard, Harbor Towns’ cruises were put on hold.

Harbor Towns said in its release that the “hiatus” will allow it time to work with both the boat manufacturer, Bryson City-based Smoky Mountain Jet Boats, and Cummins Engineering “to resolve the mechanical problems that have plagued our boats for far too long now.”

“While we regret the pause in our scheduled operations, Harbor Towns is committed to providing passenger service in the Albemarle Sound that is safe, fast, comfortable, and reliable,” the release said.

While passenger service has been suspended, both the Penelope and Moses Grandy are available for “town events and festivals or for private charters,” Harbor Towns said.