The Steamship Authority has announced further service reductions on the Vineyard route, beginning this week. The ferry Martha’s Vineyard will go off line on weekends.
At last, the namesake ferry of Martha’s Vineyard and the newest addition to the Steamship Authority’s fleet has arrived.
The MV Martha’s Vineyard survived the rough trip up the coast from Florida and sailed magnificently into Vineyard waters this week.
At 2:30 on Monday afternoon, she arrived in Woods Hole. In front of a cheering crowd of SSA employees, Capt. Ed Jackson showed off the boat’s powerful new bow thrusters by performing a quick turnabout before pulling the vessel into the slip.
With a holiday weekend approaching, the Steamship Authority was scrambling Wednesday to provide reliable service in light of continuing mechanical problems that have sidelined the two main passenger ferries to the Vineyard.
With two ferries sidelined with mechanical problems, the Steamship Authority will continue to operate through the weekend with just two freight boats, the Katama and the Sankaty, and the SeaStreak.
The ferry Martha’s Vineyard was pulled from service again Wednesday morning because of a generator issue and is headed to the Fairhaven maintenance facility for repairs, Steamship Authority representatives confirmed.
The ferry Martha’s Vineyard was out of service and undergoing inspection Sunday after the vessel lost power off East Chop Saturday night and had to be towed back to harbor.
Nearly 25 years after the M/V Martha’s Vineyard began her daily seven-mile passages between Woods Hole and the Vineyard, the Steamship Authority ferry is getting a $17.4 million makeover.
On a busy Thanksgiving weekend of travel, Steamship Authority ferry service was disrupted Friday and Saturday due to mechanical problems on the ferry Martha’s Vineyard.
