Updated August 12
A combination of crew shortages and “unforeseen circumstances” led to 16 Steamship Authority cancellations over the weekend — one of the busiest travel days of the year — on the Martha’s Vineyard route, coupled with numerous ferry delays.
It is uncertain how many passengers with vehicle reservations were impacted by the summertime weekend cancellations.
“I do not have a number of cars that were affected,” Steamship communications director Sean Driscoll told the Times. “Everyone who was on the property Saturday and Sunday waiting to travel was accommodated, but I have no way of knowing how many people may have changed their plans and left.”
According to a Monday statement provided by Steamship general manager Robert Davis, a total of eight round-trips were canceled over the weekend — eight trips on each day. The absence of one licensed deck officer led to the crew shortage on Saturday.
“When an absence at this level is reported, the Steamship Authority takes every step possible to find a replacement deck officer – including, in many circumstances, having management-level positions fill in,” he said in the statement. “On Saturday, unfortunately, a replacement was unable to be secured.”
He underscored the hard work of vessel crews and terminal staff to accommodate customers over the weekend.
Adding insult to injury, a storm on Saturday knocked out power at the Steamship’s Mashpee reservations office in the morning, although the issue was resolved by noon, according to Driscoll.
“All customers who were waiting to travel as a result of Saturday’s crewing cancellations on the Woods Hole–Martha’s Vineyard route were accommodated by the end of the day,” Driscoll said.
On Sunday, trips were canceled because of what the Steamship at the time called “unforeseen circumstances.” The ferry line later clarified that the issues on Sunday were due to a spillover in cancellations from the previous day.
“Our crews and terminal personnel worked hard through the day and were able to accommodate all customers who were waiting for travel on Saturday,” Davis, the general manager, said in the statement. “However, the resulting delays to service meant that vessels ended their operating day late [on Saturday]. That, in turn, meant two early morning trips on Sunday were canceled and others delayed to allow crews to get their Coast Guard-mandated rest periods.”
The mandated rest periods require staff to stop working after a certain period of time to avoid fatigue, similar to airline pilots and firefighters. Steamship crew members work 18 hours in a 24-hour period, which the union representing the ferry line’s crews, Teamsters Local 59, has been trying to negotiate down to 12 hours.
“Our crews and terminal personnel again worked hard to accommodate customers on Sunday, but two more round trips ultimately were canceled due to delays that compounded through the day,” Davis added.
“Today [Monday], our vessels are running as scheduled,” Davis said. “We thank our customers for their patience and understanding as we worked as a team to minimize the effects of a challenging weekend. We also thank our employees for their hard work during this time.”
Throughout the weekend, the ferry line also asked customers to remain respectful.
“Our crews and terminal personnel are working hard to accommodate today’s affected customers. Please remember your patience as you travel today,” the online post reads. “We have received disturbing reports of verbal abuse directed at our employees, and there is no excuse for that behavior. We understand this is a frustrating situation, but please treat our employees with the same respect you would like to receive.”
The Steamship Authority has had to make cancellations during the busy summer season weekend last month as well. A generator issue with the Island Home, one of the ferry line’s largest vessels, stranded around 76 vehicle reservations.
Eunki Seonwoo contributed to this story.
Why are they spending millions on “new” boats when they can’t staff the ones they have.
The SSA and MBTA should merge as they are both FAILURES
Why were the MBTA and SSA created?
Was there some of kind of problem with the services provided by private enterprise?
The MBTA and SSA are owned by we the people. Are we failures?
Is democracy a failure?
But the ARE building a Taj Mahal of a new Woods Hole terminal complex (just as more and more people are buying their tickets online)… so at least we have that going for us.
Peter, let’s build a Taj Mahal bridge and be done with it.
Blah, blah, blah. SSDD
Disband the SSA? Sell the remains to private enterprise?
Over which the Island will have no control?
We continue to pay a high inconvenience price For a monopoly and an organization that seems to get better and better at making excuses for multiple failures ongoing bases. And yet it seems we continue to increase the salary and bonus of the CEO. Most any organization would’ve had a management overhaul quite a few years ago and an island. The hundreds of people who were incredibly inconvenienced, or worse, once again. And we get platitudes and excuses. We need the Steamship Authority to be so much better than this.
The SSA was formed because private enterprise did not provide the level of service the Islands wanted.
The CEO is employed at the pleasure of the Board of Governors.
The Board of Governors serves at the pleasure of the County Commissioners.
The County Commissioners serve at the pleasure of we the people.
How are we doing?
When the SSA turns your stomach look in the mirror .
It is about time the state steps in to initiate a massive study on absolute malfeasance of the steamship authority. This situation is truly pathetic and embarrassing to the SSA.
Michael, How about we ask the state to step in and help fund a bridge?
Why does Bob Davis still have a job? It’s a joke!
Agree completely. AT ANY public company, the CEO would lose their job with this level of ineptitude by an organization. It’s a shame that the people living on, and visiting, the islands cannot rely on the most important source of transportation. Why is there no oversight by the board? And let’s not even start about the 7 unions that run the show, sadly.
Because of the Board Governors, Cape and Island County Commissioners and Cape and Island voters.
Are Cape and Island voters a joke?
Are you?
Do you want to see all of the Island ferry service reprivatized?
The SSA is competing with Vineyard Wind for Mariners. Vineyard Wind pays better. Vineyard Wind financed an elegant and beautiful renovation to 97 Spring St. to provide apartments for Vineyard Wind employees. Why wouldn’t qualified Mariners jump ship? Hopefully some Humans will take advantage of the crew shortages and become qualified to work for the SSA.
How many former SSA employees are now working for Vineyard Wind?
I know Island born native who is. He knows of no other Islander/SSA who are.
What do you know that he doesn’t know?
The person I know is well qualified to work for the SSA.
He refuses to clean toilets in the off season.
Do you clean public toilets?
Patience & respect?? That is asking a lot when you have paid for a reservation and you spend hours stressing, waiting, and hoping to get home. Several months ago, I went off island for a meeting. I had a 9:30 return boat. When I arrived at 8:00, I was told that the last two boats were cancelled due to weather. Although it was a raw March evening, the wind was barely blowing. I knew of the staffing shortage and found out later that was the reason the boats were cancelled. An apology for my inconvenience hardly sufficed. I did not have a change of clothes or contact solution and most of the hotels in Falmouth were full. Fortunately, my husband got me a room at the Falmouth Inn $90. Walmart overnight necessities $30. I got up at 5:00 to sit in standby for 4 1/2 hours but did not move one inch. After the 9:30 boat came and went, I got out of line, parked at Palmer and went as a passenger home because I had to work. My husband went over the next day to pick up my car and pay $10 for parking. It was a really bad day! I couldn’t imagine if I had spent thousands of dollars for my vacation and I was treated the way I was. It was totally disrespectful and cruel.
Tammy, so sorry to hear about your travel being disrupted. A bridge would solve those travel issues for everyone.
Absolutely agree this is an outrage, and preventing inconvenienced travelers from blowing off steam to personnel should be the least of the Steamship Authority’s concerns. The authority should expect anger to come out and tell personnel to let people vent. In addition, I find these cancellations galling for a reason which applies to anyone who had a car reservation this past weekend on a canceled boat. I’m hoping that by articulating it, I can bring those people together. Here goes: to be able to bring my car over to MV this past Sunday, I played by the Steamship Authority’s somewhat intricate, constantly evolving rules. I got in the “virtual queue” the moment summer bookings became available. After weeks of delays, that moment came at 7:00 AM one day in February, and there I was. These are the lengths to which I went in order to establish my itinerary, months ago. When the Steamship Authority cancels my boat 2 hours before departure, and the best they can do for the people affected is say they regret the inconvenience, they are essentially indifferent to, or unable to understand, just how much they have failed these people. People who may have been coming to MV for 3 days, who went to all that trouble in February, and who wind up spending half that time waiting and hoping still to get their cars over. By devaluing those people’s time, the Steamship Authority is essentially treating people like cattle. Rank and file employees may not be responsible for the cancelations, but they’re pretty much all complicit in that. They all benefit from a job entitlement and enjoy exemption from personal accountability, and it shows. Travelers really are at the mercy of the monopolist mentality. Which brings me back to my original point, which is that people are entitled to own their anger when dealing with all of these people.
If the Steamship Authority wants to do right by people, it can waive parking fees for drivers who couldn’t get their cars over, as well as the charge for additional passenger tickets necessary to leave and later retrieve cars. It can hold employees publicly accountable. It can recognize the real damage done to people, and it can find real empathy, instead of deflecting blame and hiding behind Coastguard regulations, union rules, and missed shifts by key personnel. None of that is the public’s problem. If they truly have to cancel an entire boat because of one person’s absence, someone should lose their job because someone should be responsible for ensuring that that doesn’t happen.
Fire Davis, contract out Fast Ferry service!! time to get with the TIMES
Not the “Lifeline” it used to be.
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