The SSA is preparing for potential summertime staffing shortages. —MV Times

The Steamship Authority is bracing for potential staffing shortages this summer that could hamper regular ferry service to and from the Island. 

The authority, known as SSA, was forced to cancel multiple trips in recent months due to crew shortages, the latest of a series of problems that have affected service. 

“It’s going to be very tight this summer,” Mark Higgins, the SSA chief operations officer, warned the Port Council on Tuesday. “We’re going to have issues over the summer.”

The launch of the Steamship Authority’s new website has also been pushed back. Officials now hope it will be ready in late June or July, the Port Council was told.

The SSA already has fewer captains and pilots than it normally requires for its fleet of 10 ferries. The SSA budget provides for 29 captains, but only 28 are currently working. One captain is out for medical reasons, but will train a possible replacement, according to Higgins. 

The budget similarly provides for 31 pilots, but only 26 are employed. Pilots are necessary to help the ships navigate in the area’s congested waterways, especially the harbors. 

Higgins said the lack of able-bodied seamen is a problem across the maritime industry. He said too few mariners are “coming through the pipeline,” while older ones are retiring.

Robert Davis, the SSA general manager, said the authority tries to promote licensed deck officers from within the organization, because they know the routes and are familiar with the ferries. 

Davis said a growing number of the licensed deck officers are over 65, and looking toward retirement. 

“It’s going to be a big issue here,” he said. He said the SSA began funding the education of crew members trying to become licensed deck officers in 2017.

Janice Kennefick, the SSA human resources director, said four licensed deck officers retired in 2023, but the authority was able to hire 17 ordinary seamen this year. 

The current plan to mitigate impact from crew shortages is to reduce the number of trips by the Nantucket fast ferry Iyannough. The SSA will then re-evaluate in mid-June. 

Nantucket representative Nathaniel Lowell said fewer trips will be “brutal” for his island, but it was better than losing access to the larger, slower boats.

Davis said some deck officers were at an Alabama shipyard preparing for delivery of two new freight ferries, the Barnstable and the Aquinnah. The Barnstable will be used for the Nantucket route this summer, but the Aquinnah won’t be delivered until September.

Kennefick said that employment in other parts of the SSA is fairly stable. She said that the service is competing with other employers for summer help. 

In other news, the Port Council unanimously approved a plan for SSA staff to start preparing for the sale of two freight ferries, the Katama and the Gay Head, that will be taken out of service. Marketing to sell the vessels will begin this summer.

22 replies on “SSA bracing for summertime crew shortage”

  1. Oh please. Maybe they should have waited until July 4th to start worrying about this. Jeez, such incompetence

    1. The SSA’s competence is a direct reflection of it’s owners.
      The SSA is owned by Annie and the rest of we the people.

  2. Wouldn’t it be better for all involved to trim back the schedule to one they have staff to support.
    What’s better? An ever expanding schedule that supports truckers that want to get on and off island early or dependable service that gets islanders to medical appointments and other ‘life-line’ needs?
    SSA wants to become .’too big to fail’, no matter how bad a job they do.

    1. Bob I totally agree with your thought of cutting a few runs out.
      Much better to have fewer runs., rather than random cancellations.
      In the bigger picture, if people bought smaller cars it would help.
      I disagree with you about the SSA “wanting” to be too big to fail.
      They already are…

    2. Those darn truckers.
      To hell with food, household goods, pet food and other items, furniture, appliances, lawn care supplies, plumbing, electrical, lumber, and construction supplies. Garbage disposed at town facilities and Sewage held at the plants.
      Construction debris. On and on.
      Those trucks carry our necessary items for us and then they transport other items off for us.
      There are 2 different types of boats going back and forth. Freight and vehicular + passengers, maybe they should start actually filling up the boats that are already on the schedule and stop letting us think that they are full when they really are not.
      Too much focus is on bringing tourists over and back.
      Our transportation system really needs a overhaul.
      Especially for the elderly and handicap.
      The distance between the bus stops and many peoples residents or place of employment is too far.

  3. Trucks are the lifeline to the Island.
    They bring food.
    They want to get on and off the Island early to avoid Island traffic.
    Day procedures require early trips.

    Should the SSA shrink?
    Four boats a day?

  4. Maybe the SSA should pay their captains, deck hands and other workers a decent wage so they would not have this on going issue.
    Which begs the question do we really need to have a new costly ticket office in Woods Hole? Or better yet well payed employees that are able to operate the boats according to the daily schedules so islanders have a reliable life line to the main land.

  5. Low wages and a work shift that barely allows time off will never bring in good candidates. The cost of living on the cape and island is exorbitant and the SSA pays dishwasher salaries. To keep experienced talent and attract more the SSA needs to think outside the box. What are they doing to retain the younger workforce they already have?? Any incentives.

  6. Yes, Pat Ingalls, The Steamship Authority should pay mariners as much as Vineyard Wind is paying. Why wouldn’t people pick the best paying job?

    1. Shelly– you got that right– But unless the SSA would
      cut the bloated salaries of the administrators and even
      things out a bit, they would squeeze the beegusses
      out of our wallets.

    3. Because it would: 1) Have a price tag in the tens of billions of dollars, which the Commonwealth, let alone the feds, would be unlikely to fund; 2) Interfere with ship traffic in Vineyard Sound; 3) Require land-takings on an immense scale, in Woods Hole and at West Chop, for the approaches; and 4) Dump tens of thousands of cars a day onto directly onto roads — not remotely designed to handle such volumes — that would funnel them into the two worst-designed interchanges on the Island,

      1. I don’t think a bridge is a feasible solution either but I do have an answer to the “dumping unlimited cars onto the island problem.” Cars originating from WH are charged $300.00 to cross and cars originating from the island are charged nothing.

  9. Albert, Don, Christopher; a bridge might not happen in this generation, but it’s inevitable. As long as we slice and dice the real estate, more people will be coming.

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