Cross Bay Ferry’s First Season Ending Early Due to Vendor Default

The Cross Bay Ferry’s first season of year-round service is coming to an early end as HMS Ferries Inc., the vendor providing ferry service between St. Petersburg and Tampa, has been declared in default of its agreement with Hillsborough County.

John Muller, the county’s facilities management and real estate services director, sent a letter to HMS on March 25 outlining the situation. The Boston-based company wanted to replace the current high-speed ferry with a slower one that would double the transit time to almost two hours per trip across Tampa Bay. Muller deemed this proposal unacceptable and gave HMS until April 3 to find another vessel or face contract termination by April 30.

HMS Ferries released a statement confirming that the service will conclude on April 30, earlier than originally planned. They expressed pride in the role the ferry played in connecting Tampa and St. Petersburg and expressed excitement for the future of ferry transportation in the region.

St. Petersburg’s transportation and parking management director, Evan Mory, informed City Council members that HMS did not meet the deadline, and Hillsborough County intends to bring a cancellation recommendation to the County Commission on April 16.

The Cross Bay Ferry, now in its fourth and final year of service under the current agreement, was originally scheduled to end on Sept. 30. The early termination will save the city $102,000, although Mory noted that it would have been preferable for the service to end in September.

Pinellas County’s transit authority is interested in purchasing its own ferry to better integrate the Cross Bay Ferry, but Hillsborough County is hesitant to release a nearly $5 million federal grant to support this initiative.

Mory informed council members that the city will collaborate with the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority and other partners to identify a new ferry program that could potentially restart as early as this fall, depending on the solicitation process and vendor availability.