Can fleet upgrades attract more riders to Cape May-Lewes ferry service?

On the third thwack, the bottle of sparkling wine Teresa Ford banged against the M/V Cape Henlopen broke open, spilling its contents down the hull as onlookers at the Cape May-Lewes Ferry terminal applauded.

The ceremony was a “rechristening” of the vessel, capping off the work of crews who overhauled and modernized the ferry fleet, repainting hulls and installing swanky new seats imported from Australia.

Ferry officials hope the makeover will entice more to take the ferry, which offers a 17-mile crossing between southern Delaware and coastal New Jersey, letting people avoid the tolls, gas costs and traffic headaches of driving all the way around Delaware Bay.

Ferry users say the ships are convenient and pleasant, yet fewer people are choosing to ride. The Cape May-Lewes ferries carried 779,000 passengers in 2011, a third less than its ridership of 1.16 million 10 years earlier.

With that in mind, the Delaware River and Bay Authority sold one of its ferry vessels, the M/V Cape May, last month to Northstar Marine Inc. of Clermont, N.J., a marine services company. The sale price was $750,000, DRBA spokesman Jim Salmon said, and the authority negotiated the right to retain more than $500,000 worth of parts and equipment.

The remaining ferries, which can carry dozens of cars, have Game machines, tabletops for picnic lunches and flat-screen TVs. In time for the ferry system’s 50th anniversary next year, a gift shop on one of the ships will be remade into a bar serving craft beers.

“We have all of the amenities that you expect on a modern airline, but with a little bit more room – quite a bit more room,” said Heath Gehrke, director of ferry operations.

The Cape May, which joined the fleet in 1985, had been up for sale since 2007.

Because the Cape May was the least efficient vessel in the fleet, burning through more fuel per hour than the others, it went on the market – originally valued at $17 million, DRBA officials said in 2007. Salmon said the authority reassessed the vessel’s worth in August 2012 and judged its fair market value to be $1.6 million.

The original steamships that got the ferry service going in 1964 were taken out of service 10 years later in favor of diesel-powered vessels. So the sale of the Cape May leaves four ships in the water: M/V Delaware, M/V Twin Capes and M/V New Jersey, all acquired in 1974, and the slightly newer M/V Cape Henlopen.

The DBRA said in 2010 it would be willing to sell the Twin Capes, and that it could operate at existing service levels with only three vessels. It cost $10 million more to run the ferry system in 2011 than the $13.4 million in revenue it took in, although the DRBA’s overall operating budget, including the Delaware Memorial Bridge and its airports, was still in the black.

Administrators also cut the workforce by a third over the past 10 years, and promoted the terminals as places people can book for weddings or business meetings.