According to the St. John Source, $5.3 million has been set aside by the Department of Public Works to purchase two new water buses. The Federal Highway Administration provided some, if not most, of the funds.
Public Works will invite bidders to submit proposals later this month. Commissioner Darryl Smalls told the Source, "We are looking for vessels that are brand new."
Could this be what one of the new boats will look like? Probably not, since this ship holds as many as 2,000 passengers. But maybe a scaled down version is likely.
While the Commissioner said requests for suppliers will go to national as well as local providers, it's unlikely the new ferries will be built in the territory. One resource for ferry manufacturers, Alibaba.com, shows ferries are manufactured in 20 countries. China has the most builders, 46, followed by Ukraine (23), and the United States (11).