September 2, 2023 — As a golden sunrise lights up New Bedford’s commercial fishing fleet, an unusual passenger ship is steaming out of the harbor toward Vineyard Wind.
The vessel is painted all over in a single color — battleship gray — though it’s not military or law enforcement.
Seated at the helm, Captain Fred Spaid says the look is deliberate.
“We were coming around Cape Hatteras this spring and came up on a catamaran sailboat. He calls us up on the radio, … and he said, ‘Are you guys with the Navy or the Coast Guard?’ I said, ‘Neither one,’” Spaid says, laughing. “But we do have that impression, and that is intentional, absolutely.”