After conducting an analysis of several of its vessels, the Steamship Authority (SSA) returned to port community representatives Tuesday with the same conclusion from weeks ago: sell the Governor, the oldest vessel in the fleet.
But a vote wasn’t made on Tuesday morning. The Port Council, an advisory group to the SSA board, wanted to first hear what the board’s members had to say at their next meeting, which is scheduled for April 21 in New Bedford. The board makes final decisions on major changes at the ferry line.
Some Port Council members expressed a desire to find a buyer that would preserve the Governor in some way rather than have it scrapped or even keep it in an emergency capacity.
“For what it could offer us in emergency situations, I think that should be considered as a part of this as well,” Greg Egan, Barnstable Port Council member, said, highlighting the Governor is still able to sail and pass inspections despite its age and old technology.
The potential sale of the Governor was first raised at the Port Council meeting in March. Ferry officials highlighted that the freight ferry is over 70 years old and uses antiquated technology, but a decision was delayed. Instead, an evaluation of the Governor and two other aging vessels, the freight ferry Sankaty and the passenger ferry Nantucket, was done.
Alex Kryska, SSA general manager, said he recognized that many people are attached to each vessel, but as the “new guy” who hasn’t even ridden on any of them yet, he could be the “cold-hearted killer” to make a decision. But he underscored it ultimately came down to the decisions of the council and board.
“If it were me, I’d keep all three of them,” Kryska said. “I’m a sucker for boats, but we have to be cognizant of our finances.”
Mark Amundsen, SSA chief operating officer, said this discussion was also taking place now because the Monomoy, a freight ferry being refurbished, would reduce how much the spare vessels, like the Governor and the Sankaty, are used.
A presentation by the ferry line showed that each boat cost hundreds of thousands of dollars annually to keep, even before dry-docking for repairs. Among the three vessels evaluated, only the Nantucket operated with a full schedule and cost $690,024. The Sankaty was used for around 219 days in 2025 and cost $558,744. The Governor, which was used for only around 90 days in 2025 and needs to be docked in a rented slip during the winter, cost $582,696, including the roughly $30,000 a month it costs to berth the vessel.
“The Nantucket and the Sankaty are also not long for this world, unfortunately,” Kryska said, although further analysis of those two vessels will be a part of the fleet replacement program that’s being developed.
While the Nantucket and the Sankaty were deemed to have several more years of sailing remaining, the Governor was determined to be well beyond its useful life with obsolete systems, like the steering gear, that may even require parts to be manufactured to replace.
It came down between the two freight ferries, and the Sankaty was viewed as a safer bet to keep than the Governor. Unlike the Governor, the Sankaty can sail on both the Vineyard and Nantucket routes, can carry more trucks, and is more resilient to rough weather.
Joe Sollitto, Oak Bluffs Port Council member, said Islanders he spoke with were “very sad” that the Governor is likely going away, highlighting it as a popular, fast boat.
“It is a favorite on the Vineyard. [For] sentimental reasons, too,” Sollitto said.
But the boat won’t be leaving too soon. Even if the SSA board votes to sell the Governor, Kryska said the process of selling and disposing of the ferry likely won’t be completed until at least the fall.
Another sad day of wasteful spending and gross mismanagement by the steamship authority.
I’m afraid the steamship is not fixable.
They will never represent the best interests of islanders
and will forever outspend their budgets and will continue to make irreversible bad decisions . The
ill conceived Woods Hole Terminal is such an expensive eye sore that generations of Islanders will have to endure looking at it for decades .
It’s actually gut wrenching and pains the soul to look at it .
Islanders need help from the Governor and the Statehouse to eliminate the Steamship organization as it is today and create a new ferry system that’s modeled after the ferries systems of Europe and Washington State.
Nothing they do is done with an ounce of intelligence
or fiscal responsibility.
They do nothing to exemplify any virtue’s that parents today would want to teach their children to live by .
The one thing they could do to show Vineyarders that they have any say in its operations is to save the Governor for a few years longer, but they can’t even do that .
The MVMBTA
So True. Also why is there never a conversation about a commuter fast ferry?
April 9,2026 Steamship Authority website;
“The M/V Governor will run in place of the M/V Martha’s Vineyard on the Woods Hole-Martha’s Vineyard run today starting with the 9:30 a.m. departure from Woods Hole while a steering issue is investigated on the vessel. The M/V Governor has lower vehicle capacity, so some customers may need to be accommodated on a different trip than the one they booked. Walk-on passenger cut-offs may also occur.
We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.”
Hmmm. Steering on another vessel? But there are four other Freight Boats and three are new. Please stop insulting us with run around excuses. Hope it doesn’t cost $30k to keep it at its slip.