Ferryboat Between St. Croix And St. Thomas Approved; Service Starts Tuesday

ST. CROIX — A successful man-overboard demonstration has garnered the much anticipated Ferryboat between St. Croix and St. Thomas the green light to begin operation in the territory. The demonstration—which was held on March, 24—was the final test required to ensure that the vessel was in compliance with the Coast Guard’s safety standards. The QE4’s maiden voyage will be on Tuesday, April 4th.

“[It’s] absolutely wonderful. Couldn’t be happier for everybody that’s been involved with it for this amount of time and the patience of the V.I. community, and Mr. Molser and his crew have been outstanding,” said Jeffery Bisson, vice president of Gold Coast Yachts—builder of the ferryboat—in an interview with The Consortium.

Although there are a few final items pending, Mr. Bisson says they have the COI in hand and signed by the Coast Guard, with everything projected to be finalized on Monday. He also stated that the ferryboat is currently docked at Salt River, and will move down to the Gallows Bay Port on Monday for permanent birth, where operations will begin on Tuesday. “Website is up and running, that’s the date we are pulling the trigger on everything,” said Mr. Bisson.

A brain child of local businessman Warren Molser, the QE4 has been highly anticipated because of its offer of allowing residents a more affordable alternative for inter-island travel.

As originally announced, tickets will cost $50 one way. The QE4 will leave St. Croix at 7:00 a.m. and arrive in St. Thomas at 9:00 a.m., then leave St. Thomas at 9:30 a.m. and arrive in St Croix at 11:30 a.m. Its second trip from St. Croix will leave at 1:00 p.m. and arrive in St. Thomas at 3:00 p.m., with the final trip of the day leaving St. Thomas at 3:30 p.m and arriving in St. Croix at 5:30 p.m. It will seat approximately 54 passengers inside, with some outside standing room in the rear of the boat.

Tickets are available online on the ferry’s website here.

The QE4 will be docked at the V.I. Port Authority dock in Gallows Bay.