Updated 4 pm
Just days after a consultant’s report was released detailing last spring’s ferry failures and the need for changes throughout the Steamship Authority, the ferry Martha’s Vineyard is suffering from a mechanical issue.
An alert was issued Thursday canceling two crossings due to mechanical issues — the 12 pm Woods Hole–Vineyard Haven run and the 1:15 pm Vineyard Haven–Woods Hole run.
Sean Driscoll, a spokesman for the SSA, wrote that the ferry is “waiting on a replacement valve for the lube oil for the port main engine.”
At about 1:50 pm, Driscoll texted a message stating that the 2:30 boat would run.
At the terminal in Vineyard Haven at around 1 pm, three rows of cars were waiting for a ferry that wasn’t coming. A man could be seen with multiple suitcases, waiting to start his holiday journey.
The Martha’s Vineyard was at the center of the problems that plagued the SSA throughout the spring.
Edgartown resident Robert Roldan was in the standby line when the delays arose, and was frustrated by the number of cars that piled up as a result.
He said he felt the irony of the mechanical problem, given the report was disseminated only days ago. “It’s too bad it was in Falmouth,” he said of the special meeting held to explain it. “I hope they get the message. It’s becoming a joke.”
Midafternoon Thursday Driscoll wrote in an email that the valve was replaced. “The valve was installed by SSA personnel in Fairhaven following the midlife refurbishment,” he wrote. “It was incorrectly installed at that time, and has now been replaced and properly installed.”
On Tuesday, the SSA and Senesco Marine, which did the more than $18 million refurbishment, reached a settlement in their ongoing dispute over who is to blame for the ferry’s woes since it returned to service.
For more information, please call 508-548-3788 or 508-693-0367.
Updated to include the comment from the SSA that repairs were to replace a valve installed improperly. – Ed.
