HAVERHILL — MeVa transit has signed a $3 million contract with a Maine boat builder to construct three quiet, zero-emission ferries on the mighty Merrimack River.
The first of the 33-foot, catamaran style aluminum water taxis, with room for 22 passengers, is expected to be delivered in fall of 2026, said Jonathan Egan, fabrication manager for the builder, Lyman-Morse Boatbuilding of Thomaston, Maine.
MeVa plans to introduce the river route with pilot runs in 2026, then full service in summer 2027, said MeVa transit head Noah Berger.
The battery powered craft will motor between Haverhill and Newburyport with a stop in Amesbury, and possibly cruise to Salisbury Beach and Plum Island.
The construction is being funded by a $4.2 million Low-No Emissions Federal Transit Authority Grant secured in 2023 by U.S. Sen. Edward Markey for Massachusetts ferry service to relieve traffic, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and support new jobs.
Lyman-Morse has teamed with Evoy Vita, a European company, to supply the electric propelled motors to power the crafts.
“These ferries will be the first fully electric, zero-emission vessels operating on the Merrimack River — a major milestone for sustainable marine transit in New England,” Vita naval architect Nigel Watkins said.
Each boat will run entirely on large battery packs, much like an electric car, only recharging dockside and protecting air and water quality.
“The batteries power high-efficiency electric motors that drive the propellers directly — meaning no exhaust, no fuel spills, and almost silent operation,” Watkins said.
The ferries will be fitted with solar panels to help charge the batteries.
Family owned Lyman-Morse, which has built over 160 boats and employs 150 people, has also teamed with aluminum boat designer Bill Lincoln of Newburyport, owner of Response Marine.
Lincoln said the advantage of a catamaran is its two skinnier hulls are easier to drive through the water at the relatively slow speed of 10-12 knots (11.5 to 13.8 miles per hour) that the ferries will travel.
“The thinking is it’ll be more efficient, and efficiency is important here because we have battery power and it’ll also be lower wake,” Lincoln said.
He’s happy to be working on a marine project in the area where he lives.
“It’ll be a boon for the towns on the lower Merrimack, here,” he said.
The full schedule is expected to include morning and afternoon trips on the ferries between Haverhill and Newburyport with a stop in Amesbury, which may end up the home port for the ferries.
Amesbury is building out its municipal dock supported by an $840,000 state grant, the improvements with MeVa ferry service in mind, Berger said.
MeVa expects to contract out the operation of the ferries.
The Merrimack Valley Planning Commission is assembling business and operation plans to determine when and where to run the ferries and how to fund the rides.
Rides on MeVa transit buses, serving 16 towns and cities from Lowell to Newburyport along 25 routes, are free.
Berger said he would like for the ferries to be free and make a seamless connection to the rest of MeVa’s service.
It won’t be entirely seamless, at least when it comes to power.
MeVa’s fleet of more than 60 buses are primarily diesel powered though it includes a number of hybrid diesel/electric vehicles.
Ferries harken back to an earlier time on the river.
Steam-powered ferries traversed the Merrimack between Haverhill and Newburyport for much of the 19th century and into the 20th.
The river benefited greatly from clean water legislation passed in the 1970s. Today, bald eagles and ospreys ride air currents above with a sharp eye out for fish. Mammoth sturgeon, which spawn in rocky river shallows near the MeVa headquarters in Haverhill, rocket from the surface and splash down.
Graham McKay, master boatbuilder at Lowell’s Boat Shop in Amesbury, said he likes the idea of reviving a piece of the region’s river history and providing people access to Salisbury Beach and Plum Island on quiet vessels powered by clean energy.
“Overall I love the idea of zero emission boats,” McKay said.