PHOTOS: Pensacola Bay ferries arrive

Melissa Nelson Gabriel | Pensacola News Journal

John Blackie/jblackie@pnj.com

The president of the company selected to run Pensacola's new ferry service hopes to begin shuttling passengers between downtown Pensacola and Santa Rosa Island on June 15.

Capt. George Aswad, a longtime East Coast passenger boat operator and president of Gulf Coast Maritime Services, said he is hiring between 30 and 40 local employees to work on the boats and in ticketing offices.

"Our staff will be hired by the end of this week. Fingers crossed, we will be starting service June 15," he said Tuesday.

Aswad said his company is finalizing its contract with the National Park Service to operate the two ferries, which will take passengers from downtown Pensacola to Pensacola Beach and Fort Pickens.

Ticket prices, arrival and departure times and other details will be announced once the contract is signed, he said.

More on the ferries

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Aswad, who has been in the passenger cruise business for more than 40 years, has relocated to Pensacola to oversee the new operation. He also operates Island Express Ferry Service, which has shuttled passengers from Beufort, North Carolina, to Cape Lookout National Seashore since 2014.

Before starting the North Carolina service, Aswad operated ferry boats and passenger cruises in the New York area. He said he is looking forward to the start of the Pensacola service.

"We like getting in on the ground floor and building something. That's what we did in North Carolina where we have the (ferry) contract with the National Park Service," he said.

He hopes to grow the Pensacola ferry service over time.

"We are investing a tremendous amount of money in this. By the time we are finished, it will be over seven digits," he said. "If I didn't see a future in this business, I wouldn't be here."

John Blackie/jblackie@pnj.com

After previously announcing a mid-May start date for ferry service, Gulf Islands National Seashore Superintendent Dan Brown announced in late April that the service would be delayed. Brown, who said there were delays in finalizing the contract with Gulf Coast Maritime, did not say when the service might start.

Aswad said he expects the contracts to be signed soon.

"Then we will have to train our staff," said Aswad, who blamed contract delays on the complex nature of the project, which involves the federal government, Escambia County and the city of Pensacola.

"This isn't something that can happen quickly," he said.

City of Pensacola

The ferries also have to go through trial runs and U.S. Coast Guard inspections before starting service, Brown said.

The two 150-passenger, double-decker boats, named Turtle Runner and Pelican Perch by area school children, have sat in dry dock at the port of Pensacola for more than a year. They were built in Bellingham, Washington, and transported to Pensacola on a cargo ship in 2017.

The ferries were originally scheduled to begin service in spring 2017, but service was delayed for a full year because of problems constructing the ferry landings and finding a contractor to operate the ferries.

Protective covering was taken off the ferries earlier this month in preparation for them to enter the water.

The ferries are being funded with $5.2 million in restitution funds paid by oil giant BP in the aftermath of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The National Park Service is spearheading the project with coordination from the city of Pensacola, the Santa Rosa Island Authority and Escambia County.

Anne Delaney/adelaney@pnj.com

Escambia County Commissioner Grover Robinson the county will have its dock and temporary ticket kiosk at Quietwater Beach on the Pensacola Beach Boardwalk ready by the end of May.

Robinson, who represents the beach and is running for Pensacola mayor, said the ferries should help alleviate beach traffic congestion.

"We were working bringing ferry service here since before the oil spill. (The ferries) are important on many fronts, especially with beach congestion management," he said.

Melissa Nelson Gabriel can be reached at mnelsongab@pnj.com or 850-426-1431.