The Tampa Bay Ferry moved a major step closer to reality Monday as the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority officially purchased the two vessels that will comprise the service\u2019s permanent fleet.<\/p>\n
PSTA announced it has finalized the purchase of the Bay Breeze and the\u00a0Clipper, ending a nationwide search for vessels capable of supporting year-round passenger ferry service between downtown St. Petersburg and Tampa.<\/p>\n
The purchases mark one of the most significant milestones yet in the agency\u2019s effort to transform the former seasonal Cross Bay Ferry into a permanent transportation option.<\/p>\n
The vessels recently completed extensive inspections and sea trials before the purchases were finalized.<\/p>\n
\u201cFinding the right vessels was one of the biggest hurdles in launching this service,\u201d said Brad Miller, CEO of PSTA, in a prepared statement. \u201cNow that we\u2019ve officially purchased the Bay Breeze and Clipper, we can focus on getting them ready to serve Tampa Bay passengers for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bay Breeze, a former San Francisco ferry, can carry up to 250 passengers and was purchased in late 2025 for approximately $2.5 million. The Clipper, formerly known as the San Juan Clipper while operating near Seattle, can carry up to 149 passengers and was purchased for approximately $2 million. Both vessels require only minor upgrades before entering service.<\/p>\n
Next month, the vessels will begin separate journeys to Florida aboard heavy-lift transport ships. The Bay Breeze will depart from San Francisco while the Clipper will leave Seattle. Both will travel through the Panama Canal before arriving at a shipyard in Fort Lauderdale.<\/p>\n
Once there, the vessels will undergo refurbishment, painting and final upgrades before traveling under their own power to Tampa Bay for testing and service preparation.<\/p>\n
PSTA is developing the Tampa Bay Ferry in partnership with Hubbard\u2019s Marina, which will operate the service. The vessel purchases follow unanimous approval by the PSTA Board of Directors in April to acquire and renovate the boats using a $4.86 million federal ferry grant awarded specifically for the project.<\/p>\n
The grant covers vessel acquisition, shipping, inspections, sea trials, refurbishment and the nationwide vessel search process. According to PSTA, the funding is federally designated for ferry development and cannot be redirected to other transportation projects.<\/p>\n
\u201cHubbard\u2019s Marina searched across the country to find vessels that would be the right fit for Tampa Bay, and we\u2019re confident we\u2019ve found them,\u201d said Captain Mark Hubbard, president of Hubbard\u2019s Marina in a prepared statement. \u201cNow our focus turns to preparing the Bay Breeze and Clipper for their new role.\u201d<\/p>\n
When city and transit officials announced plans for the Tampa Bay Ferry earlier this year, they emphasized that a two-vessel fleet is essential to creating a reliable transit service.<\/p>\n
Unlike the previous Cross Bay Ferry model, which relied on a single seasonal vessel, the new system will allow one ferry to continue operating while the other undergoes routine maintenance.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis milestone reflects the Board\u2019s commitment to expanding transportation choices throughout Tampa Bay,\u201d said Tom Reid, vice chairperson of the PSTA Board of Directors and vice mayor of South Pasadena. \u201cBy investing in a permanent, two-vessel fleet, we\u2019re building a more reliable service that will better connect our communities for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
No launch date has been announced. However, PSTA said it expects to have a clearer timeline once both vessels arrive in Florida and refurbishment work begins.<\/p>\n
The ferry service is expected to connect downtown St. Petersburg and downtown Tampa year-round, replacing the region\u2019s previous seasonal ferry model with a permanent fleet owned locally rather than leased from outside operators.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Tampa Bay Ferry moved a major step closer to reality Monday as the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":316021,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-316020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}