Updated @ 4:30 pm
The Steamship Authority, which had been diverting ferries from Oak Bluffs Tuesday due to wind issues, closed the terminal midday due to COVID-related staff shortages. SSA spokesman Sean Driscoll told The Times just before noon on Tuesday the closure was “effective immediately.” Driscoll later said the terminal would reopen Wednesday, starting with the first scheduled trips in the morning.
The reason for the closure, according to the SSA’s Vineyard representative, Jim Malkin, is because family members of terminal staff have tested positive, and some staff have symptoms.
The Oak Bluffs terminal just opened for the season last Tuesday.
Oak Bluffs select board member Brian Packish told The Times the town was previously told that going forward, ferries would be diverted or canceled on a “boat-by-boat basis.” The diversion notices sent out by the SSA Tuesday seem to reflect that type of incremental approach.
Due to the impacts of the pandemic, Packish said, “the boats are particularly important to the economic vitality of downtown.”
Packish said he received a text message while on the phone with The Times that indicated the SSA cannot muster enough employees to safely operate the terminal.
“It’s obviously unfortunate,” Packish said, but added that it’s hard to cast blame when COVID is involved.
Packish did say the SSA had, in his opinion, a “lengthy history” of not allocating sufficient staff or “prioritizing Oak Bluffs.”
Packish said the town will follow up and conduct other due diligence to monitor the situation. “At some point, some number of boats have to come to Oak Bluffs, period,” he said.