Oak Hill Marine Design

M/V Columbia Point - Complete Design and Construction Project

We were asked by Winninghoff Boats, Inc., of Rowley, Massachusetts, to develop a design for a passenger vessel for the University of Massachusetts' Boston campus. The primary use for the vessel was ferrying up to 110 passengers around Boston Harbor and the local islands. The vessel also had to serve as a marine education facility, providing instructional space and equipment for handling minimal oceanographic data-collecting equipment. A third requirement was that it provide facilities and space for evening dinner cruises for alumni and other UMass supporters. Last, but not least, it had to be as handicapped-accessible as possible.

Following several design meetings the basic arrangement was worked out and the detail design was begun. A set of drawings for the US Coast Guard was put together as soon as feasible so as to begin their design review. Subsequently, we created the drawings needed for building the vessel, providing them to the Winninghoff yard as quickly as possible to allow materials to be purchased in a timely manner. During construction we worked with the client, builder, and local Coast Guard inspectors to resolve any issues arising from the inspection and construction process.

The completed vessel was launched in the spring of 2006 and officially christened in July of that year. Since then it has been kept very busy, carrying over 10,000 passengers in 2006 alone on trips around Boston's Harbor and amongst the surrounding islands. Click here to download the images of M/VColumbia Point.