PUT-IN-BAY, Ohio — That was no ordinary Great Lakes ship that slipped under the Ambassador Bridge on Sunday afternoon.
Amid the numerous recreational boaters enjoying a sunny day on the Detroit River and the freighters engaged in their endless aquatic march along this busy commercial highway was a true unicorn among the armada.
The M/V Mary Ann Market, a custom-built ferry that has merged serviceability with efficiency, safety, and practicality, was on her way to join the Miller Boat Line fleet that has provided the primary lifeline between the Lake Erie Islands and the mainland for the past century.
The Miller Boat Line is owned by the descendants of William and Mary Ann Market, native islanders who purchased the boat line from Mary Miller in 1978. The M/V William Market joined the ferry flotilla in 1993, and now the vessel named for his wife Mary Ann becomes the crown jewel of the Miller line.
Jake Market, a grandson of Mary Ann Market and the eldest of her grandchildren, is a licensed ferry captain and was part of the team that brought the new vessel from a shipbuilding yard in Sturgeon Bay, Wis., through lakes Michigan, Huron, and St. Clair, down the St. Clair and Detroit rivers, and finally home across western Lake Erie to her designated mooring in Put-in-Bay.
“It is surreal to have the Mary Ann Market here, and also very emotional,” he said on Monday. “It was a very long process — five years from start to finish — but we persevered throughout and just kept moving forward. I can't express how good it feels to bring her home.”
En route to South Bass Island, the Mary Ann Market first stopped at North Bass Island, also known as Isle St. George, the birthplace of the family matriarch. After a celebratory loop through Put-in-Bay, the new ferry escorted the William Market on one of its numerous milk runs between Catawba and South Bass before ending its baptismal journey back at the Miller docks in Put-in-Bay.
“I was honored to be a part of the team and to have the opportunity to pilot her for part of the long journey home,” Jake Market said. “I was very close with my grandmother and I lived with her for a while after my grandfather passed away, so this ferry with her name on it — I feel a very deep, emotional connection.”
The Mary Ann Market is 140 feet long, 38½ feet wide, and can carry up to 28 standard-size vehicles or 600 passengers. It not only brings a 20 percent increase in cargo capacity over the largest vessels in the current Miller fleet, but also has improved propulsion and maneuverability behind its three 803 horsepower Caterpillar diesel engines.
The ferry's main deck has an ADA-accessible passenger cabin and restrooms. It has additional deck seating outside where passengers can take in a panoramic view of the lake and the islands. The ferry will receive some additional painting and outfitting in the harbor here prior to its July 20 final U.S. Coast Guard inspection. Following that, Market expects it to be put in service right away.
“This ferry will increase our ability to serve the people of the islands and the thousands of visitors we see,” he said. “We want to keep the waiting lines shorter and increase our customers' satisfaction with the service we provide, and the Mary Ann Market will do that in a major way.”
Market said building a 100 percent custom-built ferry of this size and complexity is a monumental task, to begin with, and design issues and supply chain problems no doubt made the project even more challenging and pushed it well past its original $7 million price tag. He said that after some issues with the original shipbuilder were identified, Miller Boat Line was able to find another shipyard, Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding and Seacraft Design, to correct those and bring the project to the finish line.
“You deal with the hand you are dealt, and we stayed with it, addressed the modifications and changes we felt were necessary to give us the ferry we needed, and after years of hard work I can say I am really proud of the finished product, and so happy we will be able to put it to work servicing our customers,” he said.
The Mary Ann Market will join the 96-foot-long, 500-passenger M/V William Market, the 90-foot-long, 450-passenger M/V Islander, the 96-foot-long, 500-passenger M/V South Bass, and the 136-foot, 600 passenger M/V Put-in-Bay in the Miller family of vehicle and passenger ferries.
Over the past few decades, the Miller Boat Line has moved to larger vessels that will hold more passengers, and also are capable of carrying longer and taller construction equipment. Speed was also a major factor in the upgrades to the fleet in order to maintain a busy trip schedule, which in the summer months includes 30 daily trips connecting Catawba and the island. The Miller Boat Line transports about 850,000 passengers and 15,000 vehicles each year.
“This new boat will do everything and more than what we wanted,” Jake Market said. “It far exceeds our expectations.”
He also went to great lengths to credit the family matriarch for her role in bringing the Market family to the helm of the historic company. William Market had worked for the Miller Boat Line as a purser and deckhand starting in 1954 and was named manager of the company in 1971. When the Markets purchased the line in 1978, Jake said his grandmother was the driving force that made the deal happen.
“My grandfather was somewhat risk-averse, and since all they had was their home, he almost did not do the deal. But my grandmother encouraged him to do it and become his own boss. Our family would not be where we are today without her,” he said. “The Mary Ann Market is a beautiful vessel, but the boat pales in comparison to her legacy.”
First Published July 11, 2022, 4:11 p.m.
