SSA head: Freight through New Bedford is a ‘long-term plan’

Updated Aug. 12.

As the Steamship Authority (SSA) considers its ferry schedule for next year, an annual complaint has resurfaced: the 5:30 am boat. 

This has been the earliest departure from Woods Hole via the Steamship for more than a decade, and carries a variety of shipments to the Island on trucks. It’s a critical element of the Island’s economy, especially in the summer, when numerous businesses reopen for the season. 

But across Vineyard Sound, there’s fierce opposition to the early morning trip from Woods Hole residents, who, for years, have called for an alternative route to be found. With a new general manager at the helm of the ferry line, some residents of the Cape Cod village made a renewed push for the end of this time slot, and the ferry line is contemplating the potential of the port of New Bedford.

It’s not yet certain when the proposed 2027 ferry schedule will be voted on, although a decision tends to be made in the late fall. 

“We do not have a firm timeframe for bringing the 2027 schedule back to the Port Council and board,” Sean Driscoll, SSA communications director, said in an email Monday. 

Island officials have heard the calls from their mainland neighbors, but remain uncertain on the best direction. The Dukes County Commissioners, which appoints the Vineyard’s SSA board representative, reviewed the issue with Ted Gavin, the Vineyard SSA board representative, and Alex Kryska, SSA general manager, on August 4. While no vote was made, Commission Chair Christine Todd said a working group will be made for a deeper dive into the matter.

Commissioner Donald Leopold highlighted the early boat as necessary for the SSA to act as the Island’s lifeline, particularly for food and supplies that the Vineyard hospitality industry relies on.

“While I feel bad for people for whom the traffic is upsetting, it seems to me to stay true to the mission of the entity … I don’t see that there’s a lot of choice,” Leopold said. 

And while suggestions of pushing back the boat were raised, Peter Wharton, a commissioner from Oak Bluffs, said pushing back the early boat means the delivery trucks will have to deal with more traffic in busy areas down-Island, such as Kennebec Avenue in Oak Bluffs. Currently, those on the 5:30 am ferry get to the Island around 6:15 am.

“If you’re trying to deal with a delivery on Circuit Avenue post that half-hour, you’re then really fighting against everyone trying to get into Biscuits for breakfast,” Wharton said. “It becomes, I think, untenable in terms of being able to efficiently deliver on this end.” 

He also said the early boat carries important cargo like oxygen for Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. And from the Vineyard side, the 5:30 am boat is used to get waste off the Island.

While Cape Cod Express uses a slightly later boat than the 5:30 am boat, the company’s operations director Jayme Amaral told The Times there would be a “trickle effect” if this time slot was eliminated. Amaral said this would especially impact food delivery services that are trying to beat the regular traffic to make deliveries. 

Amaral said a New Bedford route would increase costs for some companies, such as added personnel costs for longer time on the road as well as fuel for the boats. “Woods Hole makes the most sense,” he said. 

For later times, summer traffic can also hinder the delivery routes, according to Steven Peranowski, owner and lead pharmacists of Vineyard Scripts. 

Renee Stempien, manager of Cape Cod Express’ Martha’s Vineyard terminal, said there needs to be a compromise between moving goods and keeping neighbors happy

“We try to balance everything, from keeping peace to moving freight,” Stempien said. 

Ted Gavin, the Vineyard SSA board representative, told the commissioners the feedback on the early boat has been “particularly pointed” after a petition with 157 signatories, including 15 Vineyarders, forced a public hearing in July. The petition was submitted to the SSA in late June by Nat Trumbull, a Woods Hole resident who’s long called for change to the ferry line’s schedule.

At the July hearing, numerous Falmouth residents called for the end of the 5:30 am trip, which was first introduced in the summer of 2012, and fully incorporated into the SSA schedule in 2018. 

Falmouth residents highlighted that the daily rumbling of trucks has disrupted sleep and diminished quality of life. Some Falmouth Select Board members said the early morning trip is an example of distrust that’s been built between the ferry line and the town. Douglas Brown, Falmouth Select Board member, said that the early morning trip was meant to be an experiment that would discontinue if it became problematic. Meanwhile, some truckers at the hearing who carry goods to the Island called the 5:30 am trip a necessity to complete work in a timely manner, and that a later boat would ripple into other trips throughout the day. 

According to a 2019 report, the SSA concluded in 2017 that “it could not continue to fulfill its statutory obligation to [provide] adequate transportation for the Island of Martha’s Vineyard during its summer operating schedules without continuing to operate its 5:30 am freight trip from Woods Hole.” 

Kryska told commissioners the early boat has been an “ongoing issue,” and efforts have been made to mitigate the impact to Woods Hole, such as seasonally discontinuing the 5:30 am trips from December to May, and limiting departure to trucks 40 feet or shorter, restricting larger semitrailer trucks from the trip. 

Gavin said questions still lingered on how customers would be impacted if the earliest trip was pushed back, but he felt it would be beneficial to hear from the commissioners. Gavin called the issue “almost a blank canvas” to explore options beyond just keeping or eliminating the 5:30 am boat. 

Disruptions from freight trucks is specifically an issue between Woods Hole and Vineyard Haven, the SSA’s only year-round port on the Island. And the ire from Woods Hole residents has intensified as the number of trucks that travel through the Cape neighborhood has increased. According to the SSA’s data, the number of trucks carried in 2012 between the two ports was 42,617, but in 2025, the number grew to 62,200, only a slight dip from the year prior. That’s a nearly 45 percent increase, and followed a gradual growth over the years. This mirrors the Island’s population growth and the “unfettered growth,” as Commissioner Tristan Israel put it, that raises questions about the Island’s limits. 

Early boats aren’t a problem on the Hyannis-Nantucket route, since Hyannis is already a busy transportation hub. But there’s one port that some have eyed as a potential diversion from Woods Hole for early morning trucks: New Bedford. 

The ferry line’s leadership has recently expressed interest in New Bedford. Mark Amundsen, SSA COO, spoke about the potential of establishing a route between the South Coast city and the Vineyard when he interviewed for the general manager position in November, as did Kryska during the commissioners’ meeting. 

Gavin noted that New Bedford’s new board representative, Kreg Espinola, has expressed interest in seeing more traffic come through the city. 

“That’s an auspicious sign,” Gavin said. “The challenge for the early morning deliveries is that for Steamship Authority freight to leave New Bedford and get to the Island at 6 am, it’s got to leave at 2:45 or 3 am, which the shippers may not be crazy about.”

Around three hours is much longer than the current trips from Woods Hole, which are around 45 minutes. 

A New Bedford route isn’t unprecedented. New Bedford-based 41 North Offshore runs a limited, on-demand private freight service between the two locations, which its license allows through December. Farther back, the SSA conducted a pilot program in 2000 through Hvide Marine Inc. to provide freight service between New Bedford and Martha’s Vineyard. 

The route prematurely ended in 2001 after New Bedford and its harbor development commission didn’t respond to requests from the SSA for permission to use the New Bedford State Pier. However, according to a 2016 SSA report, ferry line staff concluded in 2012 that the route was not financially feasible, even during the peak summer months. 

“In order to pay for itself, the service would have had to generate the same amount of revenues in addition to the revenues the SSA was then receiving from its Woods Hole–Martha’s Vineyard service, and the staff concluded that it would be unlikely that the estimated incremental cost of the service would be offset by whatever additional revenues might be generated by the service (such as through higher tariff rates for the service),” the report reads in part. “The service also would have required the SSA to use the only spare vessel it then had available to substitute for one of its other vessels during the summer, in the event one of those other vessels had to be taken out of service due to mechanical or other problems.”

Kryska told the commissioners whether New Bedford becomes the “ultimate solution” for freight traffic is still being explored, though there are financial implications.

“It’s a long-term plan,” Kryska said. “That’s not going to happen this summer. It’s probably not going to happen next summer, but it’s something that we’re working on.”

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story reported Peter Wharton indicated the 5:30 am boat being deemed for hazardous materials, a status that prevents walk-on passengers from certain trips. Sean Driscoll told The Times on Aug. 12 the 5:30 am trip does not have this designation.