The Steamship Authority’s (SSA) issues that led to the Island Home being sidelined this week had a wider impact on the fleet than initially reported by The Times on Monday, and a staff member was terminated as a result.
“The last few weeks have been very challenging,” Alex Kryska, SSA general manager, said during the ferry line’s board meeting on Tuesday.
The Island Home was sidelined from Saturday to Tuesday afternoon due to an expired, 10-year radiotelephony certificate from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), a requirement for the ferry to operate. The Island Home is the largest vessel in the SSA fleet, and a smaller ferry, the Martha’s Vineyard, needed to fill in the route, leaving the ferry line scrambling to accommodate impacted vehicle reservations.
“We should’ve known about it coming for a long time,” he said.
Kryska sent out a letter Saturday detailing the issues that stated they stemmed from a scheduling issue of a U.S. Coast Guard inspection of the freight ferry Monomoy, which sidelined the boat for a day and prompted a fleet-wide review of regulatory compliance. But, on Tuesday, Kryska expanded that an internal audit that was conducted in the beginning of the month revealed the Island Home also had a lapsed Coast Guard inspection, and the first vessel to have been found with regulatory issues was actually the freight ferry Woods Hole.
“We found that the Woods Hole had not had those inspections done this year,” Kryska said. “The Coast Guard being on board [Sept. 1] was able to rectify that immediately and let that boat sail.”
According to Kryska, the SSA Safety Quality Management System, which the ferry line website states is for “policies, plans, and procedures to manage operational safety and customer experience,” requires Coast Guard inspections to be done four times a year.
On top of the regulatory issues, Kryska shared that recently the rear gates of the freight ferry Barnstable weren’t secured properly and fell into the water as it got “hit by some waves” passing through Quicks Hole on Sept. 10. The pieces have been located by divers, and the SSA “will be raising those [Tuesday].” But the vessel temporarily switched from the Nantucket route to the Vineyard route as a result.
The SSA is working to rectify the administrative problems. The ferry line’s captains have been asked to submit photos of vessel documents to its maritime operations department to be categorized into a document that tracks deadlines.
“This was a major downfall on our part,” Kryska said. He noted the possibility of extra duties for the reservation system development could’ve taken staff’s attention away from regular duties. “We need to take a step back and look at our entire operation from soup to nuts, and that’s something we’re going to start immediately.”
The employee responsible for the paperwork issues wasn’t identified, but Kryska confirmed that the individual had been terminated and this employee was also not a part of the development of the new reservation system. Ted Gavin, the Vineyard board representative, said it seems the proper steps were taken after the slew of issues.
The responses of some ferry officials, however, underscored the seriousness of the matter as multiple vessels were grounded. SSA COO Mark Amundsen said it “is indefensible” and claimed responsibility as head of operations. Peter Jeffrey, board chair and Falmouth representative, said the recent lapses were “preventable and unacceptable.”
“Required inspections and operating certificates are not mere paperwork,” Jeffrey said. “They are prerequisites to lawful and reliable service.”
He noted that the issues were allowed by a single person and called on a written report to be issued.
“Considering the seriousness of this, I think it deserves a written report,” Jeffrey said. “I think the public needs that.”
Kryska said a report will be available by the next board meeting, which is scheduled to be held on Oct. 20 in Tisbury.
