Steamship interviews two general manager finalists 

The Steamship Authority is poised to select its new general manager to lead the fleet by the end of the week after interviewing two final candidates on Friday — an internal candidate who has been with the ferry line for six years and an executive from a private marine operation on the West Coast. 

The Steamship board gathered at the Iris Hotel Cape Cod ballroom in Falmouth asking questions of Steamship COO Mark Amundsen, and COO of San Francisco-based ferry service PROP, Alex Kryska. 

While representatives from Martha’s Vineyard and New Bedford, Jim Malkin and Moira Tierney respectively, felt ready to make a decision on Friday, other board members wanted more time to consider their options. 

The board unanimously voted to reconvene to make a decision on Thursday, Nov. 13, at 10 am. Still, board members had felt confident in both Kryska and Amundsen. 

“I wouldn’t be disappointed with either candidate,” said Bob Jones, Barnstable Steamship board representative. 

Before Friday, the ferry line had reviewed over 130 applicants and whittled the list down to two finalists — although board members have reported that some candidates had withdrawn their applications over heavy public criticism and records requests filed by the public to the authority. The Steamship has been searching for a candidate to replace Bob Davis, current general manager, since he announced he would step down last fall. 

Amundsen brings decades of experience in the maritime industry, from overseeing the laying of a fiber optic cable from Japan to the United Kingdom, to directing urban shipbuilding at Halifax Shipyard — his introduction to ferries. He was also former CEO of Nova Star Cruises, a ferry service between Portland, Maine, and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. The operation filed for bankruptcy after a short stint. He joined the Steamship Authority in 2019 and became the COO earlier this year. 

Kryska’s experience in the maritime industry includes a stint as a fleet operations manager with Military Sealift Command; he is currently COO of San Francisco-based ferry service PROP. But his leadership experience is more varied beyond the maritime industry and largely focused in California. He was also general manager of ACME Technologies, a software company in San Francisco that offers a cloud-based ticketing and membership platform, and directed Covenant Aviation Security’s operations and business services at the San Francisco airport.

The candidates shared similar ideas for what improvements the Steamship should pursue, like a need to undergo fleet electrification to meet state climate goals, applying for more grants to supplement revenue, and improve relationships with the public through town hall-like meetings. 

Amundsen and Kryska also said they have leadership styles focused on listening to others. But Kryska said he’d need to come to the Steamship staff “hat in hand” to learn the ropes of the ferry line.

This is a key difference between the two candidates; Amundsen has internal knowledge of the Steamship Authority while Kryska was looking in from the outside. 

Amundsen said his experience within the Steamship Authority gives him a “sprint start” in the general manager position. He highlighted a goal to improve the ferry line’s revenue streams and find more funding sources beyond bonds and ticket sales, the main way the Steamship Authority generates money. 

“We have to look at every revenue stream and maximize it,” Amundsen said. 

Amundsen highlighted a need to gather more money as the Steamship looks toward major capital projects, especially with the costs to the Woods Hole terminal construction. He said an electric or hybrid vessel in the style of the freight ferry Woods Hole would likely cost over $80 million and work on the Nantucket terminal is also likely to be expensive. Amundsen is also eyeing the possibility of establishing a route between the Vineyard and New Bedford. 

Meanwhile, Kryska said his eclectic professional background gives him the flexibility to take on new challenges, which he developed through various career experiences from running a large organization to downsizing companies to opening a daycare during a recession when he couldn’t find work. Kryska underscored that rather than looking at the organization from top down, he wanted to see from “zero feet” the day-to-day operations of the ferry line and hear directly from Steamship employees for possible improvements. 

“The biggest challenge is relationship building,” Kryska said.

And what would success look like for each candidate in the first year? Amundsen said he would want to increase community engagement to project the positives of the Steamship Authority, like the sharp reduction in mechanical cancellations for the ferries this year, and give the public a better understanding of the ferry line to regain confidence. Long term, Amundsen underscored a need to calculate the budget better and increased staff investment. 

Kryska, on the other hand, said it’d depend on the satisfaction of the board and employees and whether they still had confidence in him by the end of the year. In the long run, Kryska said he wanted to focus on reducing maintenance issues, staff attrition, and replacing the aging vessels. 

Amundsen said he’s invested in the Steamship Authority and would stay at least five years as general manager. Amundsen said he would be able to bring the ferry line to a higher level and even if he wasn’t promoted to the position, he plans to stay with the ferry line.

“It’s not a job,” Amundsen said. “It’s a commitment you have to love every day of your life.” 

Kryska, meanwhile, said the various moving parts of the Steamship operation “looks so much fun” and that there seemed to be a “multitude of opportunities” for the ferry line to improve.

“I’d be tickled, honored to be able to lead it … and be able to usher it forward with a team,” Kryska said. 

The board will be meeting virtually to make its decision on Thursday.