Updated August 21
Following a week with numerous ferry trip cancellations resulting from crew shortages, Steamship Authority officials say the ongoing global mariner shortage and the regional housing crisis are hindering their recruitment efforts. Additionally, Steamship officials say there aren’t enough people entering the profession to shore up the numbers.
With the shortage in mind, the Steamship is sticking to a condensed schedule similar to this year.
Data presented to the Steamship Authority board on Tuesday morning by Janice Kennefick, the ferry line’s human resources director, showed that despite the crew shortages, the recruitment efforts, largely, have brought in the workers that the Steamship Authority budgeted for.
Overall, the ferry line has hired 114 new employees this year, 50 of them crew members. According to Kennefick, the Steamship Authority is actually over-budget by seven employees for their vessels, at a count of 262 crew members.
Meanwhile, 38 employees, including 13 crew members, are retiring or leaving the organization for other reasons.
Martha’s Vineyard representative Jim Malkin said despite the positive recruitment numbers, crew shortages canceling boats were a persistent issue for the ferry line. Many cancellations from crew shortages were due to a licensed deck officer calling out.
For the licensed deck officers, the recruitment numbers aren’t as positive. The ferry line is short one oiler and three pilots to meet the budgeted 28 oilers and 31 pilots. And seven of the 57 licensed deck officers — captains and pilots — will be 64 years or older next year, and are likely considering retirement. This is just over 12 percent of licensed deck officers. The Steamship Authority budgeted for a total of 60 licensed deck officers.
When a licensed deck officer is unable to make a work shift, the ferry line is forced to search in its roster for a substitute so it can meet the vessel’s manning requirements. However, it also needs to be conscious of the rest crew members need before working again, per U.S. Coast Guard regulations.
Additionally, some crew members may live a fair distance away from the Steamship Authority terminals, for example in Rhode Island.
The Steamship Authority is looking at future schedules with a potential crew shortage in mind. In the 2025 schedule approved by the board, a similar reduced schedule will be implemented like how it was for this summer. Earlier this summer, the board modified their freight schedule to accommodate the shortage.
The seasonal schedules between May and October will also be slightly shorter than this year.
Falmouth representative Peter Jeffrey was concerned whether this schedule could be realistically achieved.
“It’s aspirational and not practical, given our staffing levels,” he said, pointing to the difficulties the ferry line experienced trying to keep up with the current schedule.
Considering there is a global mariner shortage, Malkin said, it may be worth exploring the possibility of constructing housing that can hold around four or six employees in Falmouth or Martha’s Vineyard to attract workers.
Robert Davis, general manager of the Steamship Authority, acknowledged housing is an issue in bringing in workers. He said the Massachusetts Maritime Academy does provide its cadets with summer housing if they work for an approved maritime organization, which has allowed the Steamship Authority some seasonal labor.
Mark Higgins, the Steamship Authority COO, also said the ferry line is running programs to help crew members to attain their licenses as captains and pilots, which they have been trying to expedite to meet demand. Still, promoting an unlicensed crew member to be a licensed deck officer can take years.
Higgins also pointed to concerns over the dwindling number of people entering the maritime industry. According to numbers provided by the ferry line, the number of students in Massachusetts Maritime Academy has dropped. The class of 2023 had 325 graduates, the class of 2024 had 300 graduates, and the class of 2025 has 281 cadets. Maine Maritime Academy, a slightly smaller school, by comparison had 250 graduates in the class of 2024.
Higgins, a 1992 graduate of Maine Maritime Academy, said he remembers “over 100 engineers” when he was attending the school, a larger number than the 73 marine engineering students in the class of 2024.
Still, there are elements of the Steamship Authority that attract workers. Kennefick said there aren’t as many opportunities in the Cape and Islands region for seamen to work on a vessel as the ferry line provides. Additionally, some mariners want to work closer to the shore, where it may be easier for families, especially if they have been working aboard deep-sea vessels.
Steamship administrators also point to three new freight vessels that will be coming into service that could help with staffing and training issues. The three ships are identical models.
During the public comment segment of the meeting, Dukes County Commission chair Christine Todd, whose commission is the appointing body for the Vineyard’s Steamship Authority representative, expressed frustrations about the ferry line’s operations.
“I am inundated with concerned voices of our citizenship regarding the ongoing, ever-increasing problems with the reliability of the Steamship transportation,” she said. “I’m often being asked now, ‘What are you doing about it as our appointing authority?’”
Todd said she is at a “loss for words,” as she has seen “very little movement in a positive direction” that indicates improvements to the ferry line’s service operations. She did commend the reservation staff and crew members in dealing with problems that may arise, like “challenging trip delays and cancellations.”
Before Todd could ask questions of the board and general manager Bob Davis, the board asked her to email the questions instead, noting it was difficult to hear her through Zoom technical issues.
