M/V Munnatawket spent the latter part of the winter at the Goodison Shipyard in N. Kingstown, RI where she received two new engines, new controls, transmissions, cooling, and ventilation equipment. Returning to New London in early April after sea trials off Newport, the captains were all trained on her new electronic engine controls and she is nearly back in service.
Practice runs took place at Silver Eel Cove on Friday, May 3 and Tuesday, May 7, 2019. The captains each had an opportunity to hone their skills on the new electronic controls as they took turns docking the ferry at the north and the south ramps. All captains and senior deckhands have re-qualified on Munnatawket’s control and propulsion systems. These “qual runs” also involved man overboard recovery and emergency maneuvering.
Onboard May 3rd were Marine Operations Manager RJ Burns and Captains Jon Haney, Jon Hillier, Chris Newell, Tony Mirrabelli, and Senior Deck Hand Ryan Healy with Engineer John Paradis. The May 7th crew with RJ included Captains Jesse Marshall, Mike Fiora, Dan Egan, and Tony Mirrabelli with Engineer Jon Paradis.
Others, not included in the above roster met the recertification requirements while observing and participating in electronic testing (RI), maneuvering/piloting during sea trails (RI) and transiting from RI to New London.
In the belly of the beast…
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Photo Credit: Jane T. Ahrens
