For the fifth time in as many months, mechanical issues sidelined the Steamship Authority’s biggest ferry — the M/V Island Home — on Sunday, leading to two round trip cancellations on the Vineyard route.

In an email Monday SSA spokesman Sean Driscoll said the issues were related to the boat’s steering.

“The issue with the Island Home was related to an electrical breaker in the steering system,” Mr. Driscoll wrote.

The problem caused the boat to miss its first two ferry crossings starting in Woods Hole early Sunday morning, scheduled for 6:00 a.m. and 8:15 a.m., as well as its 7:45 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. crossings from Vineyard Haven. According to Mr. Driscoll, the M/V Katama, a smaller vessel, was brought in to take over the Island Home’s workload mid-morning. By later afternoon Sunday, the boat was back in service, Mr. Driscoll said.

“The issue was resolved and the M/V Island Home returned to service in time for its 3:45 p.m. trip,” Mr. Driscoll wrote in his email.

The M/V Island Home — a double-ended passenger and vehicle ferry that dates to 2007 and is the largest in the SSA’s fleet — faced a nearly identical issue back on March 10, when a tripped electrical breaker in its steering system forced it to miss the first two trips of the day. The M/V Nantucket ran in its place.

But the vessel has also faced a slew of other mechanical issues this winter and spring, beginning last November when issues with an electronic component in its engine called the “programmable logic controller” caused the boat to miss its first three trips of the day on Nov. 19, with the M/V Gay Head eventually running in its place.

Other issues have sidelined the vessel more recently. On Feb. 26, vibration in its propellor shaft caused the boat to cancel two late-day trips right as February vacation ended, stranding a handful of Vineyard-bound standby travelers overnight in Woods Hole.

The Island Home also spent time in Fairhaven for a “short repair period,”according to Mr. Driscoll, as staff dealt with an undisclosed mechanical issue. The vessel was out of service when dockside issues that day on both the M/V Nantucket, and the M/V Woods Hole, caused trip cancellations.

In multiple instances over the past months, the vessel had returned from either regularly-scheduled maintenance periods in Fairhaven, or, like last week, when it went for specific repairs, before mechanical issues caused trip cancellations.

Mr. Driscoll was not immediately available for further comment Monday morning.

Meanwhile, the SSA has issued a travel advisory for both its Nantucket and Vineyard routes Monday afternoon. The National Weather Service is predicting a period of high winds for Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard, with gusts up to 50 mph forecast.

“Service disruptions are possible on both routes,” the advisory states.