Frustrated travelers and disruptions in service were again the story for the problem-plagued Steamship Authority over the weekend and into Monday, as the ferry Martha’s Vineyard continued to suffer mechanical issues.

The ferry has been experiencing a spate of problems ever since her return from a $17 million mid-life refurbishment at Senesco Marine in North Kingstown, R.I., in March. The work was designed to more than double the ferry’s lifespan while improving passenger comfort and navigational safety.

Instead the Martha’s Vineyard has rapidly vaulted to the top of a growing list of headaches for the boat line that is the Island’s lifeline.

“It’s out of control, it’s unacceptable and it’s not just one problem,” said Vineyard boat line governor Marc Hanover, speaking to the Gazette by phone Monday afternoon. An SSA meeting is scheduled for next Tuesday on Nantucket. Mr. Hanover said he was trying to call a meeting sooner and would again push for an independent outside review of boat line affairs.

On Saturday night the Martha’s Vineyard lost power a short time after pulling out of the slip in Woods Hole for the 5 p.m. trip to Vineyard Haven. The problem was tracked to a clogged fuel filter in the generator, SSA general manager Bob Davis said yesterday.

The ferry dropped anchor until she could be pulled back into port. But more problems ensued due to a shortage of available ferry slips in Woods Hole, where a major $60 million terminal refurbishment is under way.

The freight ferry Katama, which had gone out on Thursday with a failed generator, was tied up in one slip undergoing repairs. The disabled Martha’s Vineyard was in the second slip. The third slip is under construction.

After a series of maneuvers that involved pulling the Katama out of her slip using a tug and moving the Martha’s Vineyard into that slip, service resumed on the Vineyard run some three hours later. Ferries ran until nearly midnight as the boat line scrambled to get back on schedule.

By Sunday morning the Martha’s Vineyard had cleared sea trials and was back in service. The freight ferry Sankaty was brought over from Hyannis to help clear up the backlog and ferries ran late throughout the day.

On Monday the Martha’s Vineyard briefly lost power again on the 1:15 p.m. trip out of Vineyard Haven — this time a second generator kicked in and there was no loss in propulsion, the SSA said. But there were more delays in service for the remainder of the afternoon.

The number of mishaps on the ferries are unprecedented in the history of the quasi-public boat line whose state charter dates to 1960.

At a meeting on the Vineyard last month, SSA governors and senior managers apologized to Islanders for the problems but refused to back Mr. Hanover’s call for an independent outside review.

Mr. Hanover said Monday that he plans to renew that call, and will recommend that the SSA hire McKinsey and Company to do the review. “They they have a marine division, they have an IT division . . . bring them in,” he said, reiterating his view that the issues are not confined to mechanical issues on the ferries.

“We can’t have this,” Mr. Hanover said.

SSA general manager Bob Davis said senior managers are doing all they can to stem the flow of problems.

“We’re frustrated as much as our customers are,” Mr. Davis told the Gazette Monday. “This is a situation that none of us — the crews, the terminal people, the staff here are comfortable with. We’re trying to figure out what we need to do to make sure things are going as we planned them.”