Columbia Gas Moving Workers To Leased Cruise Ship

ANDOVER, MA -- Columbia Gas of Massachusetts will move workers from hotels to a 733-foot long cruise ship docked in Boston Harbor this weekend. The utility said the move will free up hotel rooms for Merrimack Valley residents who have been without gas service since last month's explosions in Andover, Lawrence and North Andover.

Last week the company unveiled a housing plan for residents, some of whom may be without gas service until November 19. The plan included leasing 370 R/V trailers, 3,000 hotel rooms and 164 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. The company said Friday that by leasing the Grand Celebration, it frees up the housing it has leased closest to the three affected towns for residents.

A Columbia Gas spokesperson Fox 25 Boston, which first reported this story, that the cost of housing workers on the ship was "comparable" to the cost for hotel rooms.

In addition to the 218 crews Columbia Gas planned to have working on replacing underground gas lines on Friday, the company has hired 225 plumbers, 248 gas fitters, 388 electricians and 100 translators to assist in the effort to reconnect gas service to individual buildings. As of Thursday, the company had replaced 24 of the more than 45 miles of underground gas transmission lines it needed to replace.

Many of those extra workers have come from around the country, and many will presumably living on a cruise ship that features 750 state rooms, seven bars and seven dining rooms. According to Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line, the ship's owner since 2014, the Grand Celebration has space for 1,496 passengers and 670 crew members.

The cruise ship docked a day after the National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report that squarely put the blame for the explosions, which killed one person and damaged or destroyed 131 buildings, on Columbia Gas.

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Photo by Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).