Island residents who need to take the ferry to the mainland on a regular basis for special medical treatments such as chemotherapy will have a new, discounted rate, after the Steamship Authority board of governors approved the special rate at its monthly meeting on Tuesday in New Bedford.

The new rate will be one half of the excursion fare, according to minutes from the meeting provided by Nantucket governor F. Flint Ranney. The discount will be available to Island residents who provide the reservation department with documentation from a doctor explaining the need and showing the treatment schedule.

The board put off discussion until next month on a plan to offer reduced round-trip car fares for Islanders who hold SSA parking permits in Woods Hole and Falmouth. The proposal would allow permit holders a $55 round-trip fare two times a year, only available between Sept. 15 and May 14. The board will consider a revised plan further limiting the special fare to off-peak trips.

The Oak Bluffs terminal reconstruction is a few weeks behind schedule due to months lost when the building’s foundation failed last fall, according to a report given to the governors. The boat line still expects to have an occupancy permit by the end of the first week in May and open the terminal for the summer season on May 20.

Separately, a Mashpee woman was charged this week in federal court with embezzling more than $100,000 from her former employer, the Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority, according to a United States Attorney’s office statement.

U.S. attorney Carmen M. Ortiz, special agent in charge of the Boston field division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Warren T. Bamford, and Falmouth police chief Anthony J. Riello announced that Armine E. Sabatini, 46, was charged with three counts of embezzlement and two counts of wire fraud.

Ms. Sabatini, known to her work colleagues as Estelle, had been an employee of the boat line since 1988 and a bookkeeper since 1995. She was in charge of processing credit card charges and issuing refunds for SSA customers.

It was alleged in court that in October 2001 and continuing through September 2009, Ms. Sabatini carried out her fraud by creating fictitious names of Steamship Authority customers and assigning refund credits to them. She then credited Steamship Authority funds — purportedly payable to the fictitious customer names she created — to credit or debit card accounts she controlled, the statement said. Over time, the attorney’s office said, Ms. Sabatini conducted approximately 382 fraudulent refund transactions, and misappropriated an aggregate total of approximately $148,568 in SSA funds.

If convicted, Ms. Sabatini faces up to 10 years imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine on counts one through three, and up to 20 years imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine on counts four and five.

The case was investigated by the FBI with assistance from the Falmouth police department. It is being prosecuted by assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan M. Di-Santis of Ms. Ortiz’s economic crimes unit, according to the statement.

SSA general manager Wayne Lamson told the Gazette last year when the fraud was first detected that no SSA customers had lost any money as a result of the embezzlement, although in some cases their names had been used.