Ferry and company’s route may be sold
New York Fast Ferry loses out as Keyport service is nonexistent
By maura dowgin
Staff Writer

Commuters have been left standing at the dock as the fate of the New York Fast Ferry service from Keyport to Manhattan remains in question.

Borough commuter ferry service stopped about a month and a half ago after months of promises from the firm’s parent company that a brand-new ferry boat would soon be running to shuttle riders.

Lighthouse Fast Ferry, parent company of New York Fast Ferry, was contracted in May 2002 to buy a new $3 million ferry boat from Austal USA, an international boat builder located in Mobile, Ala.

"The boat’s up for sale to anyone who wants it," said Alan Lerchbacker, CEO of Austal USA.

Austal USA declared Lighthouse in default of its contract, saying that it needed to be paid.

After delivering the boat to Keyport, Lighthouse was to pay Austal 75 percent of the total cost of the boat, Lerchbacker said. Austal has not seen any of that money, he added.

Anthony Colasanti, vice president of Lighthouse Fast Ferry, said the boat was delivered late. A brand-new ferry was promised to arrive in the borough by July 2002.

Lerchbacker said the boat was delivered according to the contract.

"We had a contract to deliver it in September. I delivered it in September," he said.

After two months in the Bayshore area, the boat traveled back to Alabama on Nov. 22.

"It’s my property, and I felt more secure having it here in Mobile," Lerchbacker said.

Colasanti said Lighthouse had not paid the remaining costs for the boat because it was afraid the boat had serious problems and it wanted to test the boat before payment.

"There were serious electrical problems with the boat," Colasanti said. "They want us to pay before they send it up here. We want them to send it up here to test it before we pay for it."

The boat would have been under a yearlong warranty from Austal if Lighthouse had paid for it, Lerchbacker said. The boat will not be sent back to Keyport unless a payment is made, he added.

"It’s called payment in accordance with the contract," he said. "His investor needed to close the deal by the 31st of December because there were tax implications. I don’t have any boats in New York. I wanted to have a boat in New York."

The reason Lighthouse did not make the payment has nothing to do with its financial situation, Colasanti said.

"We’ve always been able to raise the money that we needed, and we expect to be able to do that in the future," Colasanti said. "I had three separate investors ready to close on the deal."

They are still interested if the boat has no problems, he added.

Colasanti said Lighthouse is still interested in providing ferry service to the borough.

"We’re trying to locate a new vessel," he said. "There are really a limited number of vessels out there. We haven’t been able to find a suitable boat."

In a letter to the Borough Council, New York Fast Ferry President John Koenig said, "We learned on Nov. 15 that the group that was purchasing the new vessel was not prepared to close on the purchase."

Colasanti said Lighthouse could not close until it was able to run tests on the vessel; however, in an interview at the end of November, Lighthouse CEO Anthony Capazze said the company was ready to close on the vessel and it should be in Keyport by the beginning of December.

Koenig and Michael Cummins, owner of the land operation of the ferry, called Keyport Fast Ferry, are looking for other operators to take over the Keyport ferry service.

"There are a couple of different operators that are looking into Keyport," Cummins said.

New York Waterway is "looking into the possibility of providing service there," said Pat Smith, spokesman for New York Waterway.

Lighthouse has also been exclusively negotiating with New York Waterway to possibly buy its two ferries and its ferry rights out of Highlands.

On Dec. 27, Lighthouse announced that it had entered into a short-term charter agreement with New York Waterway for the Highlands location.

"If that transaction is concluded, they would take over that location (Highlands)," Colasanti said.

At present, New York Fast Ferry only has commuter ferry service out of Highlands.

Lighthouse is planning to hold onto the Keyport location and run a successful service there, Colasanti said.

Getting ridership back up after the past few months will be difficult.

"There’s still hope, though," said Mayor John Merla. "There’s a lot of things that hinge on the service being in Keyport."

The borough applied for a $1.8 million grant for the purpose of dredging the waterfront, Merla said. Merla is still optimistic that the borough will get the money; however, it would be easier with the ferry running.

In November 2002, the fishing boat that had been used to take riders to New York City from the borough disappeared.

Former Mayor Kevin Graham said he is disappointed by the service that has been provided to the residents of Keyport.

"If I was a rider, I would want to be certain that when I get down there, the boat’s going to be there," Graham said. "If I’m not certain, I’d go somewhere where I was certain."