{"id":394243,"date":"2026-09-09T00:52:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T00:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/394243\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T00:52:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T00:52:13","slug":"local-maritime-businesses-refurbish-and-upgrade-tampa-bay-ferry-boats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/394243\/","title":{"rendered":"Local maritime businesses refurbish and upgrade Tampa Bay ferry boats"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Touring \"Touring Touring the new PSTA ferry<\/a> <\/p>\n

The Tampa Bay ferry service is gearing up to launch, but its newest additions need a facelift. Once they’re ready, they’ll connect St. Petersburg and Tampa. FOX 13’s Kailey Tracy repprts.<\/p>\n

The Tampa Bay Ferry service\u2019s two boats are getting some TLC in Tarpon Springs<\/a> before they set sail.<\/p>\n

Refurbishing the boats <\/p>\n

What we know:<\/p>\n

Tarpon Springs Marine Services is the company in charge of the boats\u2019 upgrades.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tuesday, the company\u2019s general manager, Justin Russell, gave Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, PSTA CEO Brad Miller and PSTA Board Member and Tarpon Springs Commissioner Lori Rainaldi Weaver a tour of both boats.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Courtesy: Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority <\/p>\n

“PSTA is incredibly excited that these boats are finally here and are being refurbished right here in Pinellas County at a local business, and thanks to Congresswoman Luna bringing them right to her district,” Miller said.<\/p>\n

Focusing on upgrades <\/p>\n

Dig deeper:<\/p>\n

Both boats date back to the 1990s, and the interior of the Bay Breeze is getting a total overhaul.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Crews are reupholstering the seats, replacing old carpet with epoxy floors, redoing the decks and upgrading the mechanics.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Courtesy: Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority <\/p>\n

The second boat, the Bay Clipper, got an interior update back in 2022, so crews are mostly focused on servicing its water jets and mechanical upgrades.<\/p>\n

Local businesses win <\/p>\n

What they’re saying:<\/p>\n

“While these boats came from the West Coast, it means a lot to the community that they’re being refurbished here in Tarpon Springs, and also, too, with the dependable local businesses and with people that know that they can trust,” Rep. Luna said.<\/p>\n

“The first time that a child steps foot on a boat, it may be one of these two ferries, and they’ll remember that for a lifetime,” Lori Rainaldi Weaver, PSTA Board Member and Tarpon Springs Commissioner, said. “Visitors and people that are commuting will have the opportunity to enjoy a new experience to get to and from where they’re going.”<\/p>\n

Boosting the economy <\/p>\n

Local perspective:<\/p>\n

Russell says keeping this massive project local is a big win for the community.<\/p>\n

“It’s huge for us because the Tampa Bay Area has a lot of very good marine businesses,” Russell said. “By and large, boats are not necessarily built in this area. They’re built in Louisiana, Alabama, other places on the West Coast.”<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Courtesy: Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority <\/p>\n

“For us to be able to have these boats here, this is definitely a project that’s not normal for our area. So, it gives me a chance to reach out to a lot of the vendors that I’ve used in the past that are very good at what they do, and their product is going to be on display for everybody in the Tampa Bay Area. Tourists, everybody else is going to get an opportunity. So, it’s really going to highlight how strong of a maritime background this community has,” Russell explained.<\/p>\n

Lifting all the weight <\/p>\n

By the numbers:<\/p>\n

Once they hit the water, the Bay Breeze will hold around 250 passengers, and the Bay Clipper will fit at least 150 people, but possibly more after the upgrades, PSTA says.<\/p>\n

Tarpon Marine Services was founded in 2010.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It has the largest travel lift on the West Coast of Florida at 300 pounds. Russell says without it, they wouldn\u2019t be able to support boats as big as the two ferry boats.<\/p>\n

The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority recently used a $4.8 million federal grant to buy the two ferry vessels from San Francisco and Seattle.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Future trips on the ferry <\/p>\n

What’s next:<\/p>\n

Both boats getting refurbished will both have to pass a Coast Guard inspection before anyone can hop onboard.\u00a0<\/p>\n

PSTA says that will happen as soon as safely possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019ll cost $10 to ride, $5 for seniors and people with disabilities and fares for kids under eight-years-old will be free.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Source: Information in this story is from PSTA, U.S. Representative Anna Paulina Luna and Justin Russell, GM of Tarpon Marine Services.<\/p>\n

Pinellas County<\/a>Transportation<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Touring the new PSTA ferry The Tampa Bay ferry service is gearing up to launch, but its newest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":394244,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[47,115,1157,135,137,136,1798,628],"class_list":["post-394243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-fl","tag-news","tag-pinellas","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-transportation","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394243","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=394243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394243\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/394244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=394243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=394243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=394243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}