Steamship Authority ferry captain Arthur Frostholm and 12 members of his crew were honored by the boat line last week in a formal acknowledgement of their work to rescue a passenger who went overboard in heavy seas on Oct. 13.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to discuss the extraordinary seamanship exhibited by the crew of the M/V Island Home,” SSA general manager Robert Davis said at Tuesday’s joint meeting of the authority’s board of governors and advisory port council.

“Vineyard Sound was being pummeled by a nor’easter. Winds were 30 knots or higher, creating waves six to eight feet tall, and heavy rain was covering the area,” Mr. Davis said.

As the Island Home made its way through the storm, officers on the bridge spotted something off the starboard bow that proved to be a human being, floundering in the waters off Woods Hole.

“The crew immediately enacted the procedures for a person in the water, and contacted the United States Coast Guard Woods Hole,” Mr. Davis said.

While Capt. Frostholm turned the ferry around, crew members reported to their assigned positions, some throwing life rings and keeping the person in view while others prepared to launch the rescue boat, Mr. Davis said.

The Coast Guard was there within 10 minutes and the Island Home remained on the scene for another 20 minutes to assist until a Coast Guard helicopter arrived with a rescue swimmer to pull the person from the water, Mr. Davis said.

“The actions of the crew are a stellar example of the best the Steamship Authority has to offer,” he said, presenting Capt. Frostholm with a meritorious citation.

The other 12 crewmembers were on duty Tuesday, but Mr. Davis said they, too, will receive the same recognition.

“Their training and quick actions directly contributed to the positive outcome in challenging conditions,” he said, before reading their names into the record: pilot/mate Thomas Furtado, purser Joseph Graca, bosun Michael Pronk, chief engineer Derek Tuttle, oiler Danielson Delgado, training captain Andrew Fritsch, able-bodied seafarers Daniel Flanagan, Daniel Marcal, Nicholas Tew and Philip Ricardo and ordinary seafarers Dwight McBean and Ivanildo Barbosa Delgado.

The person they helped to rescue, who turned out to have been a passenger aboard the M/V Nantucket before going overboard, was flown to a hospital and treated for exposure that was not considered life-threatening.

Falmouth police were investigating the incident and did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.