Updated Jan. 9
Ferry cancellations resulting from crew shortages on Steamship Authority vessels more than doubled on the Martha’s Vineyard routes in 2024, compared with 2023.
While the number of cancellations in December is available yet to the public, the ferry line’s statistics already show that through November, there were a total of 127 cancellations caused by crew shortages on the Vineyard route in 2024. By contrast, there were only 55 cancellations caused by crew shortages on the route in 2023.
The public has spoken critically of the Steamship at public meetings and online in recent months, with a good amount of attention placed on cancellations. Meanwhile, ferry officials have said that cancellations from “unforeseen” crew shortages affected less than 1 percent of scheduled trips in 2024.
But while there were 127 unforeseen cancellations so far reported in 2024, there were actually considerably more planned cancellations relating to crew shortages. The ferry line was forced to preemptively reduce the number of trips this past summer, in preparation for a lack of crew members that resulted in a total of 481 “cancellations” on Vineyard routes, including the 127 unforeseen cancellations, according to Steamship documents. (Trips were also cut ahead of summer 2023 when a U.S. Coast Guard testing backlog prevented some crew members from receiving their licenses on time).
Passengers can expect a similar summertime traveling schedule in 2025, as the Steamship is still managing crew shortages. “The schedule we put forward last fall mirrors the modified schedule of 2024; namely, there are four boats running on the Vineyard route instead of five, so we are not anticipating any changes at this point,” communications director Sean Driscoll said in an email.
Overall, the ferry line’s numbers show it has made around 94 percent of its Vineyard route trips in 2024. Since 2019, the only other time the Steamship Authority dipped below 96 percent for successfully running trips on the Vineyard route was 2020’s 86.7 percent, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The post-pandemic years’ numbers show that weather- and mechanical-related cancellations were fairly consistent between 2022 and 2024. Weather canceled trips on the Vineyard routes 200 times in 2022, 137 times in 2023, and 188 times in 2024 through November. As for cancellations caused by mechanical issues on the Vineyard routes, there was a spike from 58 cancellations in 2022 to 129 cancellations in 2023, but it subsided to 77 mechanical cancellations in 2024.
A reason for the increase in crew-shortage-caused cancellations could be chalked up to a drop in overtime worked.
Jim Malkin, the Martha’s Vineyard representative to the Steamship Authority, and Joe Sollitto, Oak Bluffs’ Port Council representative, both pointed out that the amount of overtime worked by crew members has reduced in 2024 compared with prior years, which they say may have contributed to the spike.
The overtime worked could be reflective of the ongoing contract negotiations with worker unions. Steamship Authority ferry captains had previously told The Times that amending the crew members’ current working schedules would allow for more overtime without conflicting with a mandatory rest period imposed by the Coast Guard. This has been a central focus of ongoing contract negotiations between the ferry line and the labor union representing crew members, Teamsters Local 59.
“There is no question the Authority needs to do more in terms of recruitment and retention, and there are efforts underway,” Malkin said, also saying that the entire maritime industry has been hit by a labor shortage.
Dukes County Commission Chair Christine Todd, whose commission appoints the Martha’s Vineyard Steamship Authority board representative, and who has been a frequent critic of the Steamship, said the “far greater” rise in cancellations from crew shortages in the past few years was “very concerning,” and raised questions on how well the negotiations were going.
While staffing matters were noted in a report by Raftelis, the firm facilitating the ferry line’s strategic plan, Steamship Authority General Manager Robert Davis didn’t mention recruitment in his list of goals for his final year in the position during a Port Council meeting on Tuesday.
Also on Tuesday, Eric Dawicki, Fairhaven’s Port Council representative, said there should be more talks about how to “augment marine personnel development,” and he recommended feeding crew members. As a former mariner, he said, the “happiest moment of the day” for the crew was mealtime.
“I think you would see better recruitment locally, and I think you would see opportunities to retain your crew and feel like it’s a home,” Dawicki said.
While crewing is important, there were also other concerns Vineyard officials would like to see addressed by the Steamship Authority in the new year. One of the biggest is better communications from the ferry line to passengers, particularly when a trip schedule has been changed or canceled.
“Communications and the boats running,” Sollitto told The Times, adding that there used to be a sign in Oak Bluffs letting people know if a ferry was canceled or diverted to Vineyard Haven. “We just want to get from A to B and B to A.”
Malkin said communications improvements, alongside other initiatives like updating technology and the reservation system, are underway at the Steamship Authority.
“All of that work is underway, it’s just not happening as quickly as I would like, or as people would like,” he said.
Todd told The Times there was a “long list” on which she wanted more information from the Steamship Authority, including the general manager search, the reservation system, and whether employee contracts were satisfactory for the workers.
She also pointed out that there are many in the public who seem to be skeptical about the ferry line, and that some Vineyarders have even formed the MV SSA Citizens’ Action Group to push for improvements. The group met on Tuesday evening for the first time.
Todd commended the frontline Steamship Authority workers who have to deal with “highly frustrated” people. She said that her hope for 2025 is that Malkin advances the initiatives he has laid out, which she said are important. “I think he’s on the right track,” she said.
A paragraph about Raftelis’ report saying the number of licensed deck officers reduced from 45 in March 2024 to 27 in Sept. 2024 has been deleted for accuracy after the Steamship clarified a discrepancy in the consulting agency’s report
