KEYPORT — Seven months ago, when ferry service started from the borough, no one knew what to expect. While things have not been going as well as Michael Cummins would have liked lately, he is very optimistic that things will be back on track shortly.
"So many things have been happening lately that are out of our control. We are looking forward to everything going back to normal by the middle of July," said Cummins, who runs the landside operation for Keyport Fast Ferry.
What has been happening is that Keyport Fast Ferry leased two high-speed catamarans from a Boston company in October, when the service started.
Their lease expired a few weeks ago and they were supposed to get two new boats, but that did not happen.
New York Fast Ferry owner John Koenig, who runs the ferry operation, said the market has gone "insane" and that he has been calling all over the country to try to get ferry boats.
"There are no catamarans available. We have been looking high and low. Because of that, we have had to lease fishing boats in order to make trips in to Manhattan," Koenig said.
"We are not the only ones, though," he added. "In order to compete with the demand, fishermen everywhere are leasing out their boats."
One of the reasons that there are no boats available is that only a handful of companies actually make them, and since Sept. 11, the market has changed.
On top of that, according to Koenig, New York Waterways is receiving a lot of money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and has been buying whatever boats are available.
So the two ships that Keyport Fast Ferry was set to buy are now gone.
In order to bring service back to where it was, Fast Ferry is having a 220-passenger, high-speed ship built. It is expected to be ready for service by the middle of July.
"I am doing my best," Cummins said. "This is a very difficult time, and running the service has become extremely unprofitable, but I just love Keyport and running the service from there.
"All that I am asking for is some cooperation from the town and for the riders to bear with us," he added. "We have come a long way, and there have been unforeseen problems that have been out of our control. We are still very excited about the service and feel positive toward Keyport. It started off so well, so it is just distressing to go through this right now."
The operation’s startup was bittersweet to Cummins. After a couple of years of trying to get the project off the ground, following former acting Gov. Donald DiFrancesco’s order after 9/11 to get people back into lower Manhattan, the Keyport operation got under way before all the permits were approved or the parking lots completed.
The bittersweet part was that Cummins lost his own brother during those attacks.
Now one of the parking lots, next to Apollo Sewer and Plumbing Inc. on West Front Street, is nearly completed, and customers no longer have to park at the borough’s waterfront lot.
Work still needs to be completed on two lots, but Cummins said he is working on them as fast as they can.
"Over the winter there was not much work that could be done," he said. "It may seem like its’ taking a long time, but I am doing the best that I can right now. All that I am asking for is for people to cut me a little bit of slack and understand that I am doing the best that I can."
Cummins met with Keyport Mayor Kevin Graham on Monday to update him on the situation.