A solar ferry is one step closer to landing in San Francisco Bay, although its path continues to be the source of rumors and muttered questions.
By Kristen Bole
Published: June, 2006
A solar ferry is one step closer to landing in San Francisco Bay, although its path continues to be the source of rumors and muttered questions.
The National Park Service and Hornblower Yachts signed the 10-year, $16 million contract for the Alcatraz Island ferry concession on May 9. Hornblower has promised to introduce a revolutionary, environmentally friendly ferry for that route, and possibly more than one. Those boats have not yet been bid, much less built.
Hornblower will assume the service on Sept. 25 under the name Alcatraz Cruises, using current ferries, which Chairman Terry MacRae said will be technologically updated to improve their emissions and fuel usage.
MacRae could not be reached for comment for this article, but said earlier that the Hornblower proposal was to create leading-edge ferries that would be the pride of the green movement.
As we reported last month, the contract had been under dispute by both environmentalists, who questioned Hornblower’s financial commitment to a green fleet, and to two waterfront unions – the Inlandboatman’s Union of the Pacific (IBU) and the International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots – that had worked the route under former concessionaires Blue & Gold Fleet.
Hornblower is the first non-union shop to run the concession since it was begun in 1973.
A federal court injunction on April 28 ordered Hornblower to pay prevailing wages and benefits, which reportedly cooled the issue a bit, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
But a May 9 internal memo from Marina V. Secchitano, regional director of the IBU, didn’t make it sound over. The memo said IBU attorneys would be following up to ensure that Hornblower meets the letter of the law.
But, Secchitano’s memo noted that the IBU still had received no commitment from Hornblower that it would hire IBU workers currently working on the Alcatraz Ferry, nor that Hornblower would sit down with them to bargain an agreement.
And without that, Secchitano said in the memo, there will be no peace on the waterfront.
