More victims of the Steamship Authority staff shortage: Arriving Seastreak passengers were stuck behind a gate into Oak Bluffs for roughly 15 minutes.
A Steamship Authority employee called out sick on Monday; that person typically opens the gate at the Oak Bluffs terminal.
“We had to get someone else there to unlock the gate, which was done at 7:13 am,” SSA Communications Director Sean Driscoll told The Times.
Vineyarders expressed their dismay at a photo of the locked dock gate with passengers behind it, posted on social media.
The dock gate is usually unlocked each morning “in time for the Seastreak boat to arrive,” Driscoll said.
According to Seastreak’s schedule, the first departure from New Bedford to Oak Bluffs is at 6 am. The vessel arrives at the Vineyard at 6:55 am.
James Barker, president of Seastreak, was not immediately available for comment.
