The Steamship Authority has named the two finalists — an internal candidate and an executive of a California-based private ferry operation — for the role of general manager, the top position at the ferry line.
According to the agenda released on Wednesday morning, the finalists are Mark Amundsen, Steamship Authority COO, and Alex Kryska, COO of PROP in San Francisco.
The Steamship Authority board will interview the two finalists on Friday, Nov. 7, beginning at 11 am at the Iris Hotel Cape Cod in Falmouth.
Amundsen has been with the Steamship Authority since 2019, and served as the marine operations director and engineering and maintenance director before being promoted to COO in February, the second highest position in the ferry line. When Amundsen was promoted, the ferry line stated he brought more than 30 years of experience and expertise in strategic transportation business development, overseeing safety compliance, structuring and negotiating long-term contracts, cost control and purchasing elements, and presiding over dry-dockings globally.
He was also former CEO of Nova Star Cruises, a ferry service between Portland, Maine, and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, which filed for bankruptcy after a short stint. Amundsen would operate this ferry line’s vessel, the MV Nova Star, from 2016 to 2018 between Spain and Morocco under Singaporean company ST Marine.
Amundsen is a licensed chief engineer of steam and motor vessels, and received his bachelor’s degree in marine engineering from Maine Maritime Academy.
On the West Coast, Kryska has worked with PROP since 2017, overseeing client services and operations. According to his LinkedIn page, he became COO in 2021, but has had prior general manager experience at ACME Technologies, a software company in San Francisco that offers a cloud-based ticketing and membership platform. He led an effort to “establish ACME’s presence in maritime-related venues.”
In his more than 20 years of leadership experience, Kryska also has been a fleet operations manager for Military Sealift Command in Washington, D.C., and director of operations and business services at Covenant Aviation Security in San Francisco.
Kryska is a graduate of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in New York, and began his career as a ship broker in San Francisco. He also holds a MBA from San Francisco State University.
The Steamship Authority has been searching for the successor of current General Manager Robert Davis, who announced last fall he would step down from the position.
Jim Malkin, Martha’s Vineyard Steamship board member, noted last month that a heavy stream of criticism and records requests from the public had dissuaded some candidates from pursuing the position. Still, ferry officials at a recent board meeting said they were lucky to have the candidates they were reviewing.
Malkin reiterated these points when reached by the Times, highlighting they originally reviewed over 130 candidates.
“We went through a very professional and long process,” Malkin said.
Hard pass on any internal candidate! The entire head is rotten, the only hope is new blood.
I agree!!! We need a new perspective
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