Steamship Authority port council members racked their brains Tuesday for ways to preserve the 72-year-old freight ferry M/V Governor, which boat line administrators have targeted for disposal as costly, obsolete and inadequate to the authority’s needs.
After acquiring and converting three identical 21st-century vessels that can carry both freight and passengers, the Steamship Authority no longer needs all three of its older freight boats, the Governor, M/V Nantucket and M/V Sankaty.
“Keeping an extra boat does cost us an awful lot of money,” said general manager Alex Kryska.
The cost for the Governor, which is only used about 90 days a year, proved to be $582,696, according to an analysis of all three ferries that was prepared at the port council’s request.
As part of the total, the Steamship Authority paid $97,500 to dock the Governor at a shipyard when she was not in use last year.
The authority’s Fairhaven maintenance terminal has just three slips and can’t spare one for long-term docking, chief operating officer Mark Amundsen.
The financial analysis shows that the 45-year-old M/V Sankaty, which operates more than 200 days a year, cost the authority $558,744 last year and the Nantucket, which is in full service year-round, cost $690,024.
The Sankaty also has the best fuel efficiency of the three, using 7.4 gallons per mile to the Governor’s 8.8 gallons and the Nantucket’s 9.9, according to the analysis Mr. Kryska and treasurer/comptroller Mark Rozum presented to the port council Tuesday morning.
Where the Governor shines is in speed, clocking 16 knots (18.4 miles per hour) to the Nantucket’s 15 knots (17.3 mph) and the (Sankaty’s 12.5 knots (14.4 mph).
“Governor is fast. We’ll give her that,” said Mr. Kryska, who noted that as a newcomer now in his fourth month on the job, he hasn’t ridden any of the three boats and felt he could be impartial.
“I can be the cold-hearted killer on this,” he said, expressing regret that the boat line can’t afford to keep all three.
“I’m a sucker for boats, but we have to be cognizant of our finances,” said Mr. Kryska, describing the Governor as a museum piece.
“If there’s a way to make a museum out of her, that would be great, but … do we really need to keep her around for an extra $600,000 a year?” he asked.
While the two younger freight ferries can serve all of the Steamship Authority’s ports in most weather conditions, the Governor’s unique build allows her to dock only in Woods Hole and Vineyard Haven.
“She can only run on the Vineyard route, which really limits her,” Mr. Kryska said.
The low-riding double-ender also is an unweatherly boat, known for taking on water even in moderate seas.
“Somebody sent me a video from last year where we had waves coming over the bow and knocking open the gate there,” Mr. Kryska said.
Nonetheless, many Islanders have developed a deep fondness for the speedy old freighter, said port council member Joseph Sollitto of Oak Bluffs, citing conversations he’s had on the Vineyard since the topic of selling the Governor first came up last month.
“It is a favorite over here,” Mr. Sollitto said.
Even on Nantucket, the Governor has her fans, said port council member Nathaniel Lowell, who wondered whether she might still come in handy for shoulder-season service on the Vineyard route.
Mr. Sollitto advocated for the Steamship Authority to keep the Governor — which went into service as a backup boat this Wednesday and Thursday — at least through the coming summer season.
That wish, at least, is likely to be fulfilled, Mr. Kryska said.
Even if the Steamship Authority’s governing board votes this month in favor of selling the Governor, the marketing process could last well into the fall, he said.
The board holds its next meeting April 21 at 9:30 a.m. at the New Bedford Port Authority.
Along with the recommendation to sell the Governor, the board will hear from Mr. Kryska, Mr. Amundsen and Mr. Rozum about pulling back some of the proposed policy changes for vehicle and freight reservations, following a series of public forums with motorists and shippers on the Vineyard and Nantucket.
“We’ve had a lot of internal discussion, and we want to leave the system as close as we can to what we have presently,” Mr. Amundsen said.
This article appears in April 10, 2026.
The M/V Governor is the best ferry experience, hands down. That boat strips it all back: no frills, no distractions—just wind, salt air, and the rhythm of the water. It feels elemental, like you’re actually crossing something, not just being transported. That raw, open-deck experience, the sound of the engines, the first glimpse of the chop and harbor—it’s about as real and honest as it gets. If I could persuade the Steamship Authority to keep one of those three boats considered for disposal, this would be the one—no question.
The Governor was scrap when the SSA bought it
It should never have been repowered.
We have plenty of wind, salt air, and the rhythm of the water.
We have miles of great beaches.
That raw, open-deck experience, – in Winter
The smell of marginally treated exhaust
Perfect, well said! …and she loads and unloads so smoothly. Love the outdoor car deck even in bad weather.
Every boat costs money to run.
But every boat is a productive asset that earns money in fares paid.
That figure is left out in this article.
How much do those boats earn for the SSA each year?
Impossible to figure with any accuracy.
Except for direct operating expenses, even labor is hard to figure, so many common expenses.
No mention of how many trips it ran for the $500,000+ cost! 10? – 100? It would seem that the cost per trip is what matters.
The gallons per mile don’t tell the story accurately. The only accurate way to compare is to calculate the number of vehicles transported per mile. That is why the airlines use ‘cost per seat mile’ to determine efficiency. Of course a 747 burns more fuel than a 737, but it carries 400 passengers vs 140.
Why would they sell it when they dont have enough ferries running as it is? Woods hole terminal is a mess. What a disaster of a project. They cant even keep the bathroom stalls clean. There is urine all over the floor. The sinks are dirty and the blow dryer says out of order and does not work. Why raise rates when the quality of the experience is worse than before? Maybe its time to take a good hard look at upper management and go from there.
lease it out triple net to a local with proper licenses -let the local maintain it and use it when you need it-you know you will-rest of the time good for weddings- cateredconvetions- 1/2 day fishing trips-they can make money and create a useful service AND THE OPERATOR can run it for a lot less than the SSA -mmmm? NOT A BAD IDEA DEPARTMENT [ outside the box thinking
Considering it subbed in for the Woods Hole (steering problem?) this past week, maybe line up another ferry before selling this asset?
Dissolve the Authority, start from scratch, privatize all of it. That is the only answer. I have seen the back and forth for decades and decades. That unneeded huge building in Woods Hole, the cosmetic maintenance, lacking of the vessels and the buildings, nothing ever changes. No highspeed passenger only vessels during the high tourist season. The current Steamship Authority, while performing safely, which is the number one criteria, fails at many other things. It does not seem to service the islands as the islanders wish. IMHO
Privatize it? No, that isn’t the only answer.
The SSA is a year-round operation and all Ferrie’s should be able to operate on all routes at all times. The SSA needs to be operationally / financially efficient, and the Governor doesn’t meet that at all in any category. It should be sold off to another owner or scrapped as it has exceeded it useful life for the SSA.
Hard to evaluate vessel performance without experiencing how they actually operate.
This article state that Mr. Kryska hasn’t ridden any of these boats and that’s unacceptable.
Older boats with mechanical controls are inherently more dependable if maintained properly. The long Island ferry is still running a WW2 LST as one of its main boats. The boat and the boat line runs better and more reliably than the SSA and its newer expensive vessels.