Decrease In Traffic, Mechanical Issues Result In Tough Month For Ste. Genevieve-Modoc Ferry

Mechanical issues and a decrease in customers led to a $17,610 net loss for the Ste. Genevieve-Modoc Ferry in December.

Ron Inman, chair of the New Bourbon Regional Port Authority board, said that it “wasn’t very good at all” during his ferry report at the board’s monthly meeting on January 23.

“We had a steering pump out that had us down about three days,” Inman said. “We lost some income on one decent weekend. … For the whole year, the ferry [business] is down. I don’t know if it’s tourism or what it is, or people not wanting to cross or not wanting to pay the fee or whatever it is, but we’re down so far for the year, total income is probably pushing [a decrease of] $10,000.”

Some days were good, he said.

“Our summer days were up an average 100 to 150 a day when we had good decent weather,” he said. “We’d just be totally dead for some reason on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday; just pretty well just the Friday, Saturday, Sunday [were good days].”

The decrease in traffic and having to spend extra money and time to comply with U.S. Coast Guard regulations make it a dicey business, he indicated.

He said the ferry has spent about $6,000 so far on compliance with new Sub-chapter M requirements of American Waterways regulations.

“Four days of training were needed for the new rules, some Coast Guard stuff, but I think mainly 911 stuff,” Inman said, “but it’s pretty in-depth stuff.”

See complete story in the January 30 edition of the Herald.