SSA considers selling the Governor

The Steamship Authority (SSA) might sell the oldest ferry in its fleet: the Governor, a 72-year-old freight vessel that has sailed between Martha’s Vineyard and Woods Hole since 1998. 

On Tuesday morning, the Port Council unanimously approved authorizing the SSA board to market the Governor for sale. That decision hinges on the results of a risk analysis by the ferry line staff that will be shared with the board at its meeting on March 17. 

Alongside the Governor, SSA General Manager Alex Kryska also pitched selling another freight ferry, the Sankaty. Both vessels are currently used on a standby capacity, which means they’re used as needed rather than on a regular schedule. 

“It’s a high cost to maintain both boats,” Kryska said. A staff report from early March highlighted that maintaining the vessels annually cost around $1.5 million each. 

The discussion arose as the Monomoy, one of three freight ferries the SSA purchased in 2022, undergoes preparations at the SSA’s repair facility in Fairhaven to be added into service. This would be the second time the ferry service has sold freight vessels since 2024, when it sold the Katama and the Gay Head as part of an effort to replace its aging fleet.

Of the two vessels discussed on Tuesday, the Governor was seen as the riskier vessel to keep. Mark Amundsen, SSA chief operating officer, said the vessel has an outdated anchor chain–driven rudder system, and carries roughly 2,000 vehicles less per month compared with the new freight vessels. Amundsen said a final inspection and value assessment run by Marine Safety Consultants, a Fairhaven-based company that specializes in marine surveys and compliance, also came to a similar conclusion about the risk due to its older system. 

Additionally, Kryska said, the Governor can only sail on the Woods Hole–Vineyard Haven route, as opposed to the Oak Bluffs and Hyannis harbors, and is more susceptible to the weather. Waves just over four feet are enough for water to get aboard the boat. 

“I appreciate it’s painful to a lot of Vineyarders, and I apologize for that, but when you come down to nuts and bolts, the Governor’s the least versatile of the backup boats,” Kryska said. 

The Sankaty is also an aging vessel, built in 1981, but its usage as a spare boat was rated higher. Its design is closer to the newer vessels that have been entered into service, such as the Aquinnah, which sails on the Vineyard route. Nat Lowell, councilor from Nantucket, also highlighted that the Sankaty was used to get trucks to his community as a part of a recent storm response. 

Eric Dawicki, councilor from Fairhaven, highlighted that selling the Governor should be “promulgated by numbers,” so the public understands the SSA’s decision. 

“I also know the folks on the Vineyard absolutely love the Governor,” Dawicki said. “It’s been consistent. It’s been rock-steady. I have not heard everybody say they love the other vessels, but I have not heard anybody say they hate the Governor.”

The Governor was assessed to be worth $325,000. Kryska said a survey of the market hasn’t been done, but highlighted that there could be demand for a boat like the Governor in the Caribbean to transport vehicles. However, he noted that many vessel operations across the U.S. were selling dinner cruise boats at a recent passenger vessel conference, which “kind of pushed the market down a bit on used boats.” 

The Governor’s “life began in 1954” when it sailed from San Diego to Coronado in California, according to the SSA website. After a bridge was built on its original route, the Governor sailed as a part of Washington State Ferries, and later with the U.S. Coast Guard in New York, where it received its current name. It joined the SSA fleet in 1998 as a backup vessel for the Vineyard route.