$3M car barge to make runs between islands

ST. THOMAS – Once U.S. Coast Guard certification is complete, Mr. B – a $3 million barge – will begin transporting vehicles between St. Thomas and St. John.

The new, 136-foot-long, 44-foot-wide barge was blessed during a small private ceremony at the V.I. Port Authority barge terminal at Enighed Pond on Sunday morning.

Pastor Carlyle Sampson of Nazareth Lutheran Church officiated.

“We bless each vessel before it goes into service,” Cheryl Boynes-Jackson, of Boyson Inc., said Monday.

The new carrier, built by Chaison Shipyard in New Orleans, was named after Noel Boynes Sr., the company’s founder.