After reviewing more than 305 suggested names for the new ferry soon to be traversing Pillsbury Sound, the Public Works Department plans to reveal the winning entry Monday, officials said Tuesday afternoon.
The department’s ferry naming committee fielded hundreds of email suggestions and even combed through social media posts to ensure nothing good was missed, said Public Information Officer Markida Scotland.
The committee narrowed the field to three finalists at the end of March. Initial plans to put the names out for a popular vote were scrapped, she said, in favor of a simple in-house decision. The top three names were tentatively scheduled to be announced at the end of April but the department’s other duties — including vast road work projects on St. Croix — seemed to have gotten in the way.
Commissioner Derek Gabriel said he hoped the name would inspire pride in Virgin Islanders and guests. There were multiple submissions for names like Waverunner, The Patriot, and Charlotte Amalie I but none made the final list.
Some current and former V.I. ferry names include Mermaid, Salacia, Royal Miss Belmar — which once ran aground on a portion of St. James now called Belmar Point — QEIV or QE4, a ferry honoring sea captain Bomba Allick named Ruby A Rouse, Sea Express I and Sea Express II, Mona Queen, Sundance Breeze, Sundance Queen, NSI1, Oriole, Voyager Eagle, Native Son, Native Son Express, Native Son Kat, Lady Caroline, Adventurer, Mandan, Hurricane, Lady Virginia, Sterling, Daphne Elise, Marie Elise, Mayflower, Island Rocket, Bay Mary, Caribbean Performance, BVI Patriot, Lady Caroline, DIII or sometimes D3, Ashamoto, and of course the Bomba Charger.
Although there is no way of knowing how many different people separately submitted the same name for the new ferry, at least two of the three final names came from Source readers.
Here are the finalists: Ginger Thomas, Spirit of 1733, and Queen Breffu or possibly just Breffu. Emancipation and Charlotte Amalie were close fourth and fifth finishers, Scotland said.
There were certainly multiple entries for these names but we can say with certainty that St. Croix attorney and current Senate candidate Russell Pate suggested Queen Breffu or Queen Breffu 1733 in early March. Another Source reader who wished to remain anonymous for the time being suggested Spirit of 1733, but there may have been more than one.
The names certainly reflect V.I. Pride. The ginger thomas, sometimes called a trumpet bush, is not native to the U.S. Virgin Islands but is the official flower of the islands of seven flags. Spirit of 1733 and Queen Breffu both hearken back to the St. John Slave Insurrection of that year when enslaved people overthrew their captors and took over the island for six months.
