Staten Island Ferry’s first Ollis-class vessel enters service

The city government of New York and the City of New York Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) commissioned its newest ferry into service on Monday, October 4.

The 320-foot (97-metre), 4,500-passenger SSG Michael H. Ollis is the lead vessel in a series of three ferries ordered by the NYCDOT for use by its Staten Island Ferry division. All three ferries were designed by Elliott Bay Design Group of Seattle and built by Eastern Shipbuilding Group of Panama City, Florida.

The new ferry honours US Army Staff Sergeant Michael H. Ollis, a Staten Island native who was killed while shielding fellow soldiers from a suicide bomber in Afghanistan on August 28, 2013, while serving during Operation Enduring Freedom.