After last year’s fire, a renovated Spirit of Boston is ready to sail
A newly renovated Spirit of Boston is back on harbor waters after a twoalarm fire sidelined the popular event ship last year.
Boston Fire Commissioner Paul Burke joined Boston Harbor City Cruises executives for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Commonwealth Pier on April 24 to celebrate the ship’s long-awaited return. The festivities were followed by a dockside showcase where guests got to check out the renovations while enjoying bites, beverages, music, and more.
“What it looks like today is amazing,” Burke told the Globe, describing the emergency as “pretty bad” and a “heavy fire scene” that took a couple of hours to stamp out.
On March 24, 2023, a fire broke out on the boat’s first deck wait station following an event. The ship was mostly unoccupied except for a few service workers, according to Burke, but all were able to exit safely. Boston Deputy Fire Chief James Lonergan noted that fire was seen coming out of the vessel’s side as firefighters arrived on the scene.
“We called 911 as soon as we saw a spark and they arrived immediately and kind of took over,” said Boston Harbor City Cruises general manager Kelley Yelle, who called the damage to the ship “pretty devastating” and thanked the fire department for its fast work securing the situation.
Although the fire was confined to the first deck, smoke and other damage impacted the ceiling and other decks above, forcing the Spirit of Boston team to “demo everything,” according to Bob Lawler, vice president and regional manager at Boston Harbor City Cruises.
“Every soft surface onboard — meaning carpets, wallpaper, ceilings, insulation behind the walls — had to be removed to get the smoke and soot smell and the burning smell off the boat,” said Lawler.
Spirit of Boston boasts four levels, with three climate-controlled interior dining decks, as well as two observation decks on the outside. The yacht tends to draw corporate clients and social events, entertaining guests with DJs, games, plus buffet-style dining.
The ship has been out of commission since the fire and only returned to the Seaport last month. Following the blaze, Spirit of Boston was sent to a shipyard in Bridgeport, Conn., owned by Boston Harbor City Cruises parent company, Hornblower Group.
“It’s been a year of a lot of work from the shipyard to all of our people who work for us, our servers to everybody in between,” said Yelle. “Transitioning from not having the boat to having the boat and being able to show her off is very exciting.”
The ship had received a $2.5 million renovation in 2015. After the fire, enough elements were still intact on each deck, allowing the Spirit of Boston team to look for materials to match the existing style, “but modernized a little bit,” according to Lawler.
He added, “Everything that the customer could see and touch, we wanted to make sure was clean and fresh and renovated.”