The John Stevens is 97 feet LOA with a beam of 25.5 feet, a draft of 6 feet and a passenger capacity of 400. Designed and built by Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding in Somerset, Massachusetts, the vessel is owned and operated by Port Imperial Ferry Company for passenger service in New York City. Powered by twin diesel engines rated at 671 bhp @ 1800 rpm, each turning 42" propellers via 2.57:1 reduction gears, the vessel has a service speed of 18 knots.

The vessel is fitted with a WAGNER NB2 800-35-DA1 twin rudder steering system providing 5786 ft-lbs torque @ 1000 psi. The system consists of two N80-190 cylinders with shut-off valves, tillers and tie bar kit M1025 hydraulic full follow-up valve, TA20 reservoir with flow control, and a 2 gallon header tank. Two engine driven hydraulic power pumps provide a rudder speed of seven seconds with both pumps in operation. A model B4 helm pump provides 3¼ turns hard over to hard over on power steering and 9.9 turns on manual back-up. A single station rudder angle indicator system was also fitted.