The Providence to Newport Ferry will resume on May 25, according to Seastreak’s customer service department. A customer service representative said the company just received approval this week from the Rhode Island Department of Transportation.
He said he expects the company to post its schedule within a few days.
Last year, the company did not begin service until mid-June, but had a huge incentive to start earlier this year with the stopover of Volvo Ocean Race in Newport, which will end its Newport stay on May 20, five days before the Ferry service starts.
WhatsUpNewp learned of the resumption of service when it called the company’s customer service department today, asking when service will begin. Charles St. Martin, chief of public affairs for the state Department of Transportation said earlier today that he doesn’t have “anything to share at the moment, probably not until next week.”
This will be Seastreak’s third summer operating the Providence to Newport ferry. Last year, the company offered nearly 1,000 trips, double what it did the previous year in what was called its pilot season. Service last year ran through the end of September.
The Ferry ran from Providence’s 25 India Street to the Newport terminal at Perrotti Park, 39 America’s Cup Avenue. Fares last year were $10 for adults (one way) and $5 for children, seniors and individuals with disabilities. There was an added fee for bicycles.
Seastreak offers ferry services in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, and Providence and Newport. Its high speed catamaran ferries have a capacity of 149 passengers.