New Ferry to Ometepe

**tresfrijoles** · 11-05-2008, 09:46 AM

http://www.laprensa.com.ni/archivo/2...s/293096.shtml

This new boat has been waiting for the Rio San Juan to fill up enough so that it could make its way into Lago Cocibolca, for more than 2 1/2 months. It is now at the new port in Altagracia, San Jose del Sur.

"El Rey del Cocibolca", will be captained by the Ometepe Island native, Donald Jarquín.

The municipality of Altagracia paid 306,000 Euros for the boat, and another 270,000 Euros to get the boat from Holland to Nicaragua.

This Ferry has a capacity of 1,000 people, 4 cargo trucks of plantains or fruit, and 4 smaller cars.

Engineers of the "Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería" (UNI) came to the island yesterday to develop the design of the ramp to load the cargo aboard. After the design of the ramp the boat must first go to "El Diamante" of Granada where some final details will be completed to begin serving the people.

There will be 3 trips per day back and fourth between Altagracia and San Jorge. This is expected to begin towards mid November of this year.

As of yet no official price of fare has been given, but they expect that it will be less than the 60 cords that is charged for ferries that go from Moyogalpa to San Jorge, and a bit more than 30 cordobas which the small boats charge.

The second phase of the construction to the new port as San Jose del Sur, with a cost of 15 million cordobas will begin next week. This will include parking, offices, and wharehouses.

**randude** · 11-05-2008, 10:51 AM

The price of the boat was not too bad, but the delivery cost was horrible. They should have gotten a builder closer to home. I see a ton of boat or ship building opportunities there. I was thinking about a motor barge to Little Corn Island as a business

**bikingo** · 11-05-2008, 11:34 AM

If you want to buy a shrimper or a workboat under 100 feet you can get excellent deals in the Gulf or east coast but if you want to build ferries tugs etc. it's hard to beat the Dutch. Their subsidized by their government and they offer an excellent product; were it not for the Jones act prohibiting documented vessels over 10 net tons to operate in the US, many here including yours truly would have boats built in Europe.
Just because of the price of sandblasting or foaming the inside of a steel boat is so prohibitive in the US many West Coast fishermen go to Ensenada to have this work done for a third of the price and then you can fuel up on your way home and save thousands more.
The Dutch also corner the third world market on quays, breakwaters, piers etc., not because of superior work but because of the aggresive Dutch policy of subsidizing foriegn contracts under the guise of benevolent development. Oh and the Dutch politicians can sit on the board of the companies involved, conflict of interest is considered a joke among Dutch nationals.

**Jonh** · 11-05-2008, 11:51 AM

Originally Posted by bikingo

If you want to buy a shrimper or a workboat under 100 feet you can get excellent deals in the Gulf or east coast but if you want to build ferries tugs etc. it's hard to beat the Dutch. Their subsidized by their government and they offer an excellent product; were it not for the Jones act prohibiting documented vessels over 10 net tons to operate in the US, many here including yours truly would have boats built in Europe.
Just because of the price of sandblasting or foaming the inside of a steel boat is so prohibitive in the US many West Coast fishermen go to Ensenada to have this work done for a third of the price and then you can fuel up on your way home and save thousands more.
The Dutch also corner the third world market on quays, breakwaters, piers etc., not because of superior work but because of the aggresive Dutch policy of subsidizing foriegn contracts under the guise of benevolent development. Oh and the Dutch politicians can sit on the board of the companies involved, conflict of interest is considered a joke among Dutch nationals.

Plus they can smoke pot all day long.

**Little Corn Tom** · 11-05-2008, 12:58 PM

that I ever saw coming into LCI was the "St. Nicholas". It was big and ran right up onto the beach where the bow dropped down like a landing craft. Then you could drive a truck or tractor and trailer off or perhaps a trailer with a small container on it. Or it could house a fork lift and handle some pallets.

Of course this would change the dynamics of the island entirely and would be a bad thing for those of us who want to be the "last guy".

The next best thing would be a WWII landing craft.

The current ferry to LCI is about a 35 foot long panga that really beats you up but is fast and takes about 30 minutes. A better solution is a 50 foot diesel trawler that has a cover for wet trips and can handle cargo as well as passengers. Slow but economical and dry.

Originally Posted by randude

The price of the boat was not too bad, but the delivery cost was horrible. They should have gotten a builder closer to home. I see a ton of boat or ship building opportunities there. I was thinking about a motor barge to Little Corn Island as a business

**Jonh** · 11-05-2008, 01:25 PM

How about a hovercraft?

**El Doc** · 11-05-2008, 02:08 PM

Originally Posted by randude

The price of the boat was not too bad, but the delivery cost was horrible. They should have gotten a builder closer to home. I see a ton of boat or ship building opportunities there. I was thinking about a motor barge to Little Corn Island as a business

Clearly its used. You're not going to get that much steel for that price new. I imagine delivery of a ferry across an ocean would be terribly expensive and dangerous; they're not exactly build for the open ocean. Can they even carry enough fuel for the crossing, or do they have to bring a tender along (why hire one crew when you can hire two at twice the price)?

Hey Randude, if you're looking to get away and still make some bank, the Argentine shipbuilding industry is undergoing a revival after a 15 year hiatus. They're even bringing the old timers out of retirement to teach the skills to the new guys. I bet with a little marketing, you could sell your skills for a nice price.

BTW, Argentina is wonderful!

**El Doc** · 11-05-2008, 02:11 PM

Originally Posted by John

How about a hovercraft?

How about an old LST? The U.S. has got to have a bunch sitting around in mothballs, and I'm sure they could use a tax deduction!

**randude** · 11-05-2008, 03:06 PM

Most hovercraft are not very practical. They take so much energy to hover and the really only work in still water.

**tresfrijoles** · 11-05-2008, 03:49 PM

there are those cargo haulers that are pretty fancy the middle of the boat sinks like an enormous dry dock, and then the water is pumped out and it raises back up again with the cargo on top. This one doesn't seem to be to complicated either http://www.dejongandlebet.com/949%20Dockwise.JPG

Originally Posted by El Doc

Clearly its used. You're not going to get that much steel for that price new. I imagine delivery of a ferry across an ocean would be terribly expensive and dangerous; they're not exactly build for the open ocean. Can they even carry enough fuel for the crossing, or do they have to bring a tender along (why hire one crew when you can hire two at twice the price)?

Hey Randude, if you're looking to get away and still make some bank, the Argentine shipbuilding industry is undergoing a revival after a 15 year hiatus. They're even bringing the old timers out of retirement to teach the skills to the new guys. I bet with a little marketing, you could sell your skills for a nice price.

BTW, Argentina is wonderful!