In the wake of widespread confusion on a stormy day last month, the Steamship Authority is taking new steps to keep travelers better informed of ferry cancellations and delays.

At the ferry line’s board of governors meeting Tuesday, Steamship staff said they were increasing the number of employees who can greenl light cancellations, expanding the call center hours and making other attempts to improve communication with customers about the status of ferries.

Director of shoreside operations Alison Fletcher told the board that a breakdown in communication between staff and front line employees on March 25 sparked the new initiative.

On that morning, the captain of the 7 a.m. departure from Vineyard Haven canceled the trip for weather reasons while walk-on passengers were boarding, Ms. Fletcher told the boat line governing board.

In the ensuing flurry of ushering passengers back off the M/V Woods Hole, she said, the cancellation never reached the Steamship Authority’s computer system — leaving travelers and ticket sellers in the dark as cancellations continued to pile up because the Woods Hole was occupying the only open slip in Vineyard Haven.

The boat line’s first response to the mix-up, Ms. Fletcher said at Tuesday’s board meeting, was to expand the number of Steamship employees who are authorized to enter cancellations into the system.

“[Previously], the only people that could do cancellations were the ticket sellers and myself,” she said.

Since early April, Ms. Fletcher said, the cancellation program has also been available to front line workers at the slips, who previously had to relay information to ticket sellers inside the terminal building.

“They can [communicate] the delays and cancellations in a timely manner, instead of stopping what they’re doing, radioing in to the ticket office, having them stop talking to customers and make the cancellations. It’s actually been working very well,” she said.

Ms. Fletcher also is working with communications director Sean Driscoll to convert Steamship Authority passenger alerts from plain-text emails and text messages to HTML, a more visually-oriented form of digital language that will be easier to read, she said.

Further elements of her plan include changes to the Steamship Authority’s operations and communications center, established in 2018, to make the center more useful for travelers: expanding the hours to provide coverage from 4:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., training the staff on trip delays and cancellations and keeping Mr. Driscoll informed when they occur, so he can issue alerts and social media posts.

A pilot program for digital sign boards at the Woods Hole and Martha’s Vineyard terminals is also in the works, but will take more time to sort out vendors, pricing and installation, Ms. Fletcher said.

“These signs will be used primarily to show information that’s coming up: next trips … cancellations and any important information that we need to get out to our public that they might not see on their cell phones,” she said.

Among other business at Tuesday’s monthly meeting of the Steamship Authority board, chief operating officer Mark Higgins said work on the Vineyard Haven terminal’s second slip is nearing completion.

“Concrete will be poured this week and the plan is to get the [transfer] bridge back in place early in the week of May 5,” Mr. Higgins said.

The Oak Bluffs terminal will open in the middle of next week, he added.

Well-drilling is under way at the Woods Hole terminal, where 27 geothermal wells are being bored more than 250 feet into the earth to heat and cool the new ticket building and its nearby annex, which are due to be built over the winter.

Owner’s project manager Sean Mulcahy, who has taken over from the Steamship Authority’s now-retired Bill Cloutier, told the board the wells’ expected completion date is May 17, although some welding may take longer.

Director of marine operations Mark Amundsen reported that the new freight ferry M/V Barnstable remains on schedule to leave Alabama Shipyard at the end of next month and board members approved a $1.5 million dry dock contract with Senesco Marine in North Kingstown, R.I., for the M/V Eagle, which is due for maintenance and a scheduled Coast Guard hull exam this fall.

Human resources director Janice Kennefick outlined the steps she’s taking to recruit employees for the Steamship Authority, which has been plagued by staffing woes that have led to canceled trips.

“We’re no different than other employers who are looking for candidates and they just can’t find them,” said Ms. Kennefick, adding that she remains optimistic.

Widespread recruitment at maritime academies across the country has led a number of cadets to join the boat line’s summer staff, said Ms. Kennefick, who told the board that the Massachusetts Maritime Academy is providing affordable lodging for its cadets while they work for the Steamship Authority.

She’s also recruiting for parking lot workers, bus drivers, mechanics and a variety of office-based employees, Ms. Kennefick said.

Information technology director Stephen Coleman reported on the IT governance policy he is developing for the boat line, and told the board that many staff hours are still being devoted to finishing the new website, which is expected to go online in June.